Dimensions
by roguehobbit
Summary: Kitty and Kurt meet two very interesting people at a mall. They are from another dimension. Who took them from their dimension, and why? Not Mary Sues or OCs. To find out who they are, you’ll have to read...
1. The Encounter

Chapter 1: The Encounter   
  
Kitty was far ahead of him. There was no way he could catch up and stop her from entering yet another store.  
  
Kurt was really wishing he had not agreed to go to the strip mall with Kitty. It was getting dark and the stars were already out, and they should've started to head back to the Institute an hour ago. *The Professor's going to kill me*  
  
Kitty turned around a corner and he lost sight of her. Kurt started to run over to the corner when he noticed two familiar faces in the crowd. *Oh, great. Just what we need*  
  
The two men, known to the X-Men as Gambit and Pyro, were standing in a shadowy corner glancing around them, looking for something. They were in civilian cloths, but this did not comfort Kurt.  
  
Kurt sprinted over to where he had last seen Kitty. "Kitty! Ve have to leave now! Kitty vhere are you?!"  
  
He would have passed the man and girl and continued on to the shop entrance if the girl's head had not whipped around and stared at him.  
  
Kurt quickly looked down at his hand. It was still pale peach in color and it looked like he had five fingers. He wondered why the girl had looked at him like that. The two people had just come out of the doorway behind them. Kurt blinked. The doorway was gone. It was just a wall next to the shop Kurt assumed Kitty had gone in.  
  
The man turned around to look at him also, but as he did his arm swung and bumped his watch into the wall. Some switch or button was hit and then the man started to shimmer. Or rather the hologram around him started to shimmer and dissipate.  
  
The slightly built, white male with the thin mustache disappeared and was replaced with a dark blue furred man with yellow eyes.  
  
Kurt just stared. The girl standing by the blue man noticed his change and tugged on his sleeve. "We'd better get out of here." she whispered.  
  
Just then, Kitty rushed out of the shop and grabbed Kurt's arm, tugging on him saying, "Ok Kurt, I'm done shopping and we have to go home..." Then she noticed the two people in the corner.  
  
"Like, wow, Kurt, he's scarier then you are." she blurted out before she thought about it. *Oh, great going Kitty. You know Kurt is sensitive about his appearance, what do you bet that this guy is more so?*  
  
To her surprise the blue man smiled, showing very pointy fangs. "He does not look so scary to me, fraulein."  
  
~~~~~  
  
So, do you know who they are yet? I'll give you an imaginary cookie if you get it right when you review. Did I mention I love reviews? Well, I do. If you don't like this story, you can tell me. I won't cry or anything. But flames are not appreciated, and I will retaliate. I'm having a lot of fun with this story, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am.   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	2. Figuring Things Out

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Period. That includes Comic version, Movie version, and Evolution version. Savvy?  
  
piratess- I don't know if your reading this, but I wanna be a pirate of the seven seas! Yes, I love Lotr! And Potc! How do I become one?  
  
Cookies go to: Asteria and StormHeart! ManniElf18, you get half a cookie for being kinda right.  
  
And thanks go to, NiteQueen, Stevie Storm and The Incredible Nightcrawler for reviewing. Love you guys!  
  
Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out  
  
Kurt's hand took on a life of it's own and moved to his other wrist. He twisted his watch face and his own hologram fazed out. The blue man and the blue boy stared at each other.  
  
Kitty glanced around quickly but they were pretty secluded from the crowd. Both girls then looked at each others blue companions.  
  
Kitty noticed that the blue man had darker blue fur and short, curly hair. Instead of Kurt's all whitish/yellowish eyes which had faint pupils, this guy had all yellow eyes with no pupils. That was freaky. Also the shadows seemed to never leave his face and he blended in with the darkness around him. Kurt did this to a lesser extent.  
  
Then the girls looked at each other. Both had long brown hair, but Kitty had straighter hair and wore it in a pony tail on top of her head, while the other girl's hair was wavy and she wore it down, loose around her shoulders. The girl had brown eyes, Kitty had blue. The girl also looked a year or so younger. Their faces had the same bone structure and at the moment, the same expression.  
  
"Kitty..." both blue persons said at the same time. Then they stared at each other. Again.  
  
"Your name is Kitty too?" Kitty asked shakily.  
  
"Yesss, Katherine Pryde to be exact."  
  
Kitty's mouth dropped open.  
  
"And I suppose your name is Katherine Pryde also?" the so far unnamed blue man asked.  
  
Kitty nodded her head.  
  
"And your name vouldn't happen to be Kurt Vagner, vould it?'  
  
Kurt replied, "Ja, yours?"  
  
"The same." said the older Kurt.  
  
"Vow." was all Kurt, the younger, could think of saying.  
  
"I think, before we finish this conversation, ve should reactivate our image inducers and find a better place to talk." then the older Kurt preceded to do so. Luckily his watch/image inducer was not busted and only had to be switched back on. Then he poked his head out of the corner and pointed to a small out door eatery. "How about there?"  
  
"That looks good." said the Kittys together and then everyone headed over to one of the tables.  
  
Kurt, the older,(who from now on will be known as ~Kurt) began "So ve're in another dimension."  
  
"We are?" asked ~Kitty.  
  
"Vell how eles do you explain what happened to us and now we see younger versions of ourselves, but they are slightly different from vhat ve look like?"  
  
"Well I think this Kitty is older then me. How old are you?" ~Kitty asked Kitty  
  
"15."  
  
"I'm 14, and how old are you?" ~Kitty asked Kurt.  
  
"16."  
  
"And I'm 21. Vhere is this going?"  
  
"No where." ~Kitty said blankly.  
  
"Vell the different dimension theory still stands."  
  
"So we're both teenagers, me one year older, and you five years younger."   
  
"Evidently."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
Kitty decided to enter the conversation again "So, like, how did you guys get here?"  
  
"We don't know."  
  
"But you said something happened..." Kurt trailed off.  
  
"Ja, something did happen, but we don't know vhat, or how ve got here."  
  
"Kurt, I think we need to bring them to the Professor and then they can tell what happened." Kitty said, glancing at her own watch and noticing the time.  
  
~Kitty asked, "There's a Professor Xavier here too?"  
  
"Yeah, there's also Scott, Jean, Rogue, and Evan, who are all teenagers like us, and then there's Ororo and Mr. Logan." Kitty said as she ticked of the names with her fingers.  
  
"Evan?" both ~Kitty and ~Kurt asked.  
  
"Yes...Evan."  
  
"We don't have an Evan." ~Kitty said.  
  
"And did you say Jean?" ~Kurt was looking at them intensely.  
  
"Yes, Jean. Jean Grey." Kitty shrugged her shoulders.  
  
~Kitty and ~Kurt looked at each other.  
  
"Should we tell them?" ~Kitty asked ~Kurt.  
  
"Tell us vhat?" Kurt asked, confused.  
  
"I don't know if ve should." ~Kurt said, hesitantly. "Could you take us to your Professor Xavier?"  
  
"Sure. Where'd you park the jeep Kurt?"  
  
Soon they were all in the jeep, driving back to the mansion.  
  
"So the X-Men team exist here too?" asked ~Kitty from the back seat.  
  
"Yup. Do you guys have the Brotherhood there?" Kitty said, interested.  
  
~Kurt started laughing, "Ja, we do, are they teenagers here, like you?"  
  
"Well, yeah, why is that funny?" Kitty asked  
  
"Because (insert laughter) I'm picturing (more laughter) a teen age Avalanche and Blob!" ~Kurt was clutching his sides and still laughing.  
  
Kurt was glad he was the one driving.  
  
"I still don't see how this is so funny." said Kitty rather crossly.  
  
"~Kurt...you need to stop laughing." ~Kitty informed him.  
  
"You don't find it funny, Kätzchen?"  
  
"Not that much, but then you have an odd sense of humor."  
  
"Maybe, but I think Logan vould find it funny also."  
  
"Logan and ~Kurt are practiclly best friends." ~Kitty said. "I don't know why. How many times has he tried to kill you?"  
  
"Two or three times, I think." ~Kurt answered nonchalantly.  
  
Kurt took his eyes off the road for a second to glance back at his older self. "Mr. Logan tried to kill you?! Shouldn't you be dead?!!"  
  
"Someone usually stops him, or I 'port out of the way. I only have to stay out of reach for a few seconds, then his homicidal rages wear off."  
  
Kurt and Kitty shuddered. Kitty thought, *It seems Mr. Logan has even more issues in their dimension then in ours*  
  
~~~~~~  
  
If you haven't figured it out yet, ~Kurt and ~Kitty are the comic book versions. I'd tell you what issue I'm taking them from, but I'm to lazy to get up and go get my graphic novel. It's an early issue and Kitty had just joined the X-Men a few issues back. Yeah, that's about right. Now please review so I can update again!  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	3. Peter Who?

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em!!   
  
**shout out's that should have been in chapter 2**  
  
Tewks- I had already posted the second chapter before you reviewed (or before your showed up) Sorry! Well, you got your answer in the last chapter.  
  
Bluegirl- you get a cookie also, you even knew about the Errol Flyn hologram! Sorry I missed your review when I posted chapter 2.  
  
queequegg- well, umm, yeah...darn you've found a loop hole! You get half a cookie. Why is it that all your reviews showed up after I posted chapter 2? Kurttyness...hmm...I dunno...maybe.  
  
Shout out's: fuzzyelf- thank you so much! You reviewed all 3 of my stories and had such nice comments! And you would've put me on your Favorite Authors list? Awwww! That's the best thing you could of said to me!!  
  
The Incredible Nightcrawler- thanks for reviewing again!  
  
Zoken- Scott/Rogue..hmm...I might fit that in here somewhere. Thanks for the idea.  
  
NiteQueen- I would like to know where I'm taking this too! lol. It's writing it self, I swear. Yeah, out of all the Kurts my favorite is the comic book Kurt, though I don't think I'm as into him as you are, lol.  
  
StormHeart-I thought you would. Thank you, I was hoping my writing skills were up to par for this story idea.  
  
Auramistealia- I'm glad you like it, and your reviewing makes me very happy!  
  
If any one reviewed the last chapter and your name is not listed above, I'm sorry. My stats are not showing all my reviews.   
  
Notes: *** Bla bla bla*** means talking via mind link. *Bla bla bla* is just someone thinking.  
  
Chapter 3: Peter Who?  
  
"Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Ororo, Logan, and who else?" ~Kitty asked.  
  
"Evan." both Kurt and Kitty said.  
  
"Right. Where's Peter?"  
  
"Peter?" both Kurt and Kitty asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah, Peter. Peter Rasputin. Ringing any bells here?" ~Kitty asked, exasperated.  
  
"Nooo..."  
  
"Piotr Rasputin. How about that?" ~Kurt asked.  
  
"Umm...no..."  
  
"So there's no Colossus in this dimension?" ~Kitty sounded rather dejected.  
  
"Vait, that guy with Magneto, the metal one...vasn't his name Colossus?" Kurt said.  
  
"Metal one! That's him!" ~Kitty said excitedly.  
  
"Vhat is he doing with Magneto?" ~Kurt wondered.  
  
"He works for him." Kurt said simply.  
  
"Peter wouldn't work for Magneto!" ~Kitty said indignantly.  
  
Kitty turned around to face ~Kitty. "Maybe not your Peter, but this one does."  
  
"He must be under duress, or mind control or something..." ~Kitty muttered.  
  
"Or he's just a mercenary." Kurt said as he swerved around a fiendish squirrel who purposely got in the way.  
  
~Kitty looked like she was about to do an act of violence on Kurt's head when ~Kurt put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Now leibchin, calm down. Perhaps this Peter is different from our own. Besides," he added when he saw ~Kitty was not calming down, "he is the one driving."  
  
Some time later, "There's the gate." Kitty pointed at the opening entrance.  
  
***Kitty, are you and Kurt alright?***  
  
***Hi Professor! Yeah we're fine. Sorry we're late. We, umm, have visitors.***  
  
***Yes, I can sense them. Bring them in please.***  
  
***Sure.***  
  
"Guys, the Professor knows we're here." Kitty informed them.  
  
"Does he know who ve are?" ~Kurt asked.  
  
"I didn't tell him, but he might know anyway." Kitty answered.  
  
Kurt parked the jeep and everyone got out of the car. Kitty and Kurt got in front of their other dimension doubles and opened the door to the mansion.  
  
Professor Xavier was waiting for them in one of the many rooms in the mansion. This room was dubbed the 'TV Room' because, you guessed it, it had a television.  
  
The door was open and Kitty could see the Professor through it. "This way." she said, leading the others.  
  
Along with the Professor, Ororo, Logan, Evan, Rogue, and Scott were waiting for them. Jean had yet to arrive.  
  
~Kitty was the last one to enter the room and she closed the door behind her. She tried to look as invisible as possible by standing slightly behind ~Kurt, she was uncomfortable with so many people looking at her.  
  
Before anyone could say anything, Jean opened the door saying "Oh, sorry I'm late, I was talking on the phone with Duncan...oh, hi." she said as she noticed ~Kurt and ~Kitty.  
  
"Es ist wie ein Geist sehen." ~Kurt whispered, staring at Jean.  
  
"Yeah." said ~Kitty weakly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Well, I think I'll end it there. Do you want to know what ~Kurt said? Of course you do! He said "It's like seeing a ghost." And ~Kitty understood that because she's been around him long enough to understand a little German, also considering the situation, it wasn't that hard for her to figure out. Some of you may not know the situation, but that's ok. All will be revealed! Now review my pretties, review!  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	4. All is Explained, Well, Almost

Disclaimer: If I owned the X-Men do you really think that this story would be on this website? It's called FANFICTION.NET for crying out loud!   
  
Shout outs: The Incredible Nightcrawler- why thank you :)  
  
NiteQueen- yeah, I know writers block is a pain. Thanks for saying my work is 'fantastic'. :)  
  
Auramistealia- I meant end the chapter, not the story! lol. I wouldn't end it there!  
  
Georgia Peach- lol, glad you like it so much so far! And thanks for putting it on your favorites list. I love seeing my stories on people's lists. Much fun. :) Good idea about ~Kitty. I'll see what I can do.  
  
If I missed anyone, I'm sorry.  
  
Chapter 4: All is Explained, Well, Almost  
  
"Would everyone please take a seat." the Professor asked, waving ~Kurt and ~Kitty to a small sofa across from him. Jean sat in a ornate rocking chair by the Professor. The way the furniture was arranged everyone could see each other's faces.  
  
"Kitty, Kurt, how did you meet these people and why did you bring them here?" Xavier asked, folding his hands in his lap.  
  
Kurt had a feeling that Xavier already knew the answers to those questions, but for the benefit of the others he explained how he had been trying to catch up to Kitty because...and then he remembered why. Gambit and Pyro.  
  
"Gambit and Pyro where at the mall?...hmm...please continue Kurt." the Professor said.  
  
He continued his story, about how the girl had gotten his attention by staring at him.  
  
"Why were you staring at Kurt?" the Professor asked ~Kitty.  
  
"Because he was yelling my name."   
  
Kurt continued, "and then his," he pointed at ~Kurt, "image inducer-"  
  
"Image Inducer?" Ororo asked.  
  
~Kurt decided it was the opportune time to turn his image inducer off. Smiling slightly, he did so.  
  
A collective gasp was the reaction to this movement, Logan almost spit out the beer he was drinking, and Evan ventured, "Are you Kurt's dad?"  
  
~Kurt grinned at this. "No, don't you think I'm a little to young to have a teenage son?"  
  
Evan didn't mention that because of the fur, it was hard to guess his age.  
  
"What are your names?" the Professor asked.  
  
"Kurt Vagner."  
  
"Katherine Pryde, but I go by Kitty."  
  
Now everyone was even more confused, and Scott said "Huh?" That pretty much summed up everyone's feelings.  
  
"Their from another dimension." Kitty said, trying to explain.  
  
"But, how did ya get here?" Rogue asked.  
  
"You take it." ~Kitty said to ~Kurt.  
  
"All right, vell I start back at the Institute when our Professor Xavier, vhile using Cerebro, noticed that a lot of the Brotherhood had gathered in one dilapidated building. This was suspicious because they had been inactive for a couple months. Vhile he was 'tracking' them their signals disappeared. He told us that ve, the X-Men, should go take a look. Scott decided that since it was a populated area, even if it was dilapidated, that ve should go in civilian cloths. Vhen ve got there, no one seemed to be around. Kitty and I were sent into the building because, vith our mutant powers, ve vere less likely to be caught."  
  
~Kurt paused, trying to remember, what happened.  
  
"Inside, the building was in even worse shape then the outside. Ve didn't notice anyone else in the building, and ve started to contact the rest of the team when Kitty saw a door ve hadn't noticed when ve came in. She opened the door and POOF, ve vere at that mall."  
  
There was a pause after he finished the story.  
  
"We will try to get you back to your own dimension and figure out how you managed to get here. Until then you are welcome to stay with us." the Professor said.   
  
"Thank you Professor. But do you even know it's possible to get us home?"   
  
"I think we can at least try. We know a young man who might be able to build something to send you back. I will call him in the morning. If you don't mind, I'm very curious about your dimension, and could we ask you some questions about it?"   
  
"I don't mind, what about you Kitty?" ~Kurt said.  
  
"Shoot." responded ~Kitty.  
  
"Well I personally would like to hear the history of the X-Men."  
  
"A history?" ~Kitty sounded worried.   
  
"A short, abbreviated one, basically just how our team was formed and who is in it."  
  
"Umm, ~Kurt do you want to start where you joined the team and I'll pick up when it gets to me?" ~Kitty asked.  
  
"Alright. I was recruited along vith Ororo (Storm), Logan (Wolverine), Shiro Yoshida (Sunfire), Peter Rasputin (Colossus), John Proudstar (Thunderbird), and Sean Cassidy (Banshee), to save the original X-Men, who then consisted of Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Bobbie Drake, Warren Worthington III and Alex Summers.  
  
"I heard that Sunfire and Thunderbird weren't very nice to you." ~Kitty then put her hand over her mouth and said "Sorry." when she realized she had interrupted .  
  
"That is alright, Kätzchen. Vell, they vere not 'nice' to anyone. Some peoples personalities are just not meant to be team players. That was the case with John and Shiro."  
  
Several of the young X-Men team looked at Logan from the corner of their eyes, and then hurriedly looked away.  
  
"What did you have to save the original team from?" Scott asked.  
  
"From a living island named Krakoa, that used mutants for energy. It had allowed Scott to escape, hoping that he would come back with more mutants, which he did."  
  
"The newest X-Men."the Professor said, showing that he was following the story.  
  
"Right. Ve vere able to beat Krakoa, and vhen ve all returned to the Institute, all the original X-Men decided to leave, except for Scott. Also Shiro left, having only agreed to helping out the Professor one time....at this rate I'm going to be telling our history in to the early morning."  
  
"Get to me! I'll be quick." ~Kitty said excitedly  
  
"Hold on, some things must be told before you enter the story, John later died, trying to stop a mad man from escaping in a plane. Sean lost his sonic scream, his mutant power, while we were saving Japan and Jean joined the team and...." ~Kurt paused and looked at the Professor. Xavier quickly read the thought that was going through ~Kurt's mind.   
  
"Go ahead Mr. Wagner. She can take it."  
  
~Kurt sighed and finally said, "Jean died."  
  
Jean's (the younger) eyes opened wider and she stared at ~Kurt. "So, I'm dead in your dimension?"  
  
~Kurt nodded.  
  
"How did I, she, die?"   
  
"Your, her, abilities grew to powerful and they killed her." the Professor could tell that ~Kurt was keeping something from them but he let it slid, for now.  
  
No one said anything for a couple seconds and Rogue could of sworn that Scott was trying not to cry.  
  
"You can go on with the history now. I'm ok." Jean said.  
  
"It is getting late, and you have school tomorrow. I think we can continue it after school." the Professor said. "Good night my students. Mr. Wagner, Miss Pryde, Logan and Ororo would you stay please?"  
  
After the younger X-Men had all filed out and closed the door, Xavier said "I think there is something you are not telling us about our Jean."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Well, that was a fact filled chapter, now wasn't it? Oh, if some of you are wondering about how I spelled 'Bobbie' that's how Bobbie spells it in issue...umm....well it has no number but its called "I,the Iceman". So even if that's changed later on in the comics that's how it's spelled there, so that's what I'm going with. And the 'young man' the Professor was talking about was Forge. I don't really like Jean much but I'm afraid that the next chapter's going to have a lot of her. Sorry. Also if your aware of the whole 'Jean Saga' then you might be like "but she never dies..." but at this time where I've stolen ~Kurt and ~Kitty from the comic time line she has died. For the second time I think. I wish she'd make up her mind.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	5. More History

Disclaimer: If I ever actually buy the X-Men from Marvel, I let you all know.   
  
Shout out's: Rogue151- thanks for putting me on your favorite authors list! Thanks for the idea, I'm trying to see how to fit it in. And I read your bio and I have this to comment, WAR EAGLE!!! GO GET 'EM TIGERS! lol.  
  
The Incredible Nightcrawler-glad your 'in the know', yes it is rather complicated isn't it? Jean can't just die, she has to have it long and drawn out. Here's the next chapter. :)  
  
Nitequeen- dimensions are headache inducers, I know. But their so much fun to work with!  
  
Georgia Peach- thank you for your lovely praise.:)  
  
Auramistealia- Sorry about that. Thanks for reviewing again!  
  
Kiki Cabou- Thanks for reviewing all my stories! I loved 'The Alien down the Hall'. And I noticed the 'X-Files' stories you have, I'll have to read those. :)  
  
~*~*~ I almost have 70 reviews on one of my other stories! Mesa very happy!~*~*~  
  
Chapter 5: More History  
  
"I didn't know if I should with her in here." ~Kurt said apologetically.  
  
"So there's more to it then just her power's killing her?" Ororo asked.  
  
"Her power is what drove her to kill herself."  
  
"Red wouldn't kill herself." Logan said gruffly  
  
"Well, she did." ~Kitty said.  
  
"She did, so she wouldn't kill anyone else again." ~Kurt explained.   
  
"Again? Maybe you should start form the beginning."  
  
~Kurt inwardly sighed. This was turning into a long night.  
  
"Jean, as Marvel Girl, was a founding member of the X-Men, as I've told you. In later years she became a being of unimaginable power: Phoenix."  
  
"Explain what you mean by that."  
  
"Phoenix is the code name she took vhen her powers grew greater. And Dark Phoenix is vhat she became. But before that, she saved the entire universe virtually single handedly. After that she vas never the same. An incident vith Master Mind drove her over the edge and she became more and more power hungry. In her rampage, she destroyed an inhabited star system, over five billion lives lost."  
  
He paused, letting that sink in.  
  
"When she came back to Earth ve vere able to return her to her true self. But it didn't last. Dark Phoenix possessed her again, and then, in a burst of sanity, she realized there vas only one vay to stop the evil side in her. She killed herself."  
  
~Kitty was wiping her eyes, she had only known Jean for a couple of days before she had died. Jean had comforted her when she had been terrified, when she had first met the X-Men.   
  
~Kurt felt emotional and physically drained. He sat slumped on the sofa, watching the facial expressions of Xavier, Ororo, and Logan.  
  
"Thank you. Now that we know what happened to your Jean, if the same symptoms appear with our own, we might be able to help her." the Professor said.  
  
"Dear God, I hope that never happens to her."   
  
"So do we all. It is late and you and Miss Pryde have had a tiring day. Would you like to be shown to your rooms now?"  
  
"Yes, please." said a sleepy ~Kitty.  
  
"Ororo would you please take our guests to their rooms?"  
  
Four minutes later ~Kitty was flopping into the bed. She felt so tired that she didn't even mind the un lumpiness and starchy new feeling of the bed. But sleep wouldn't come, and she stared at the ceiling, hoping playing the make-cracks-in-ceiling-into-countries game would help her over active brain calm down. This didn't work because there were no cracks in the ceiling.   
  
Sighing loudly, she sat up in bed and gave the room a look over. By the bed was a book shelf. She turned on the little lamp that was by the bed and leaned over to see the titles of the books. All classics. No Star Wars comics. And nothing about pirates or swordplay. ~Kitty grinned. ~Kurt would be disappointed.   
  
~Kitty picked up one of the classics and flipped through it. One whole chapter was about a turtle and how it walked. Very entertaining. ~Kitty threw it back into the shelf. Regretting it, since it wasn't her book to annihilate, she picked it up again and looked at the author's name. Steinbeck. Oh, yes. One of her favorite authors. She was being sarcastic with her self again, not a good sign. She put the book back gently, and fluffed up the pillow before putting her face in it. When sleep finally over took her the last conscious thought she had was wondering who was going to feed Lockheed in the morning.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
You should all be very thankful! I searched all my graphic novels, over and over again, looking for a good summary of the 'Jean Saga.' I finally found one, where Kurt was telling Rogue about what had happened to Jean. (Issue # 174, The Uncanny X-Men) The summary I did is close to it, but not the exact wording. Also I added stuff from what I remembered. Short chapter, I know. But did you really want a long chapter mostly about Jean? *Shudder* Oops. Sorry to all you Jean fans. Do you all know who Lockheed is? Well, he's a lil' dragon. About the size of a house cat. He is! I didn't make him up! I'm beginning to wish I had brought him into the 'Evolution' dimension. Could of had so much fun...And about ~Kitty liking Star Wars, she does. In the comics whenever she's in her room, alone, and not studying, she's reading a Star Wars comic. Geniuses have good taste, don't they?   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	6. Ich möchte Glück haben!

Disclaimer: No, I don't. (That should cover it.)  
  
Shout out's: Auramistealia- here's the chapter! And I appreciate you reviewing every chapter. :)  
  
A.J. Starhiker- yeah, Kitty is very nifty.  
  
Rogue151- the old X-Men cartoon...lol...corny ja?   
  
StormHeart- yes it is the worst book ever, and why do teachers want us to read it? Why!? Thanks for reviewing every chapter!  
  
Sci-fan- you love it? *grins happily* I do want to somehow get ~Kitty to go to their school, but I haven't figured out how yet. Thanks for the suggestions. My email is acting funky, and we think our computer has a virus, so I don't want to use it (my email), sorry. :)  
  
The Incredible Nightcrawler- yeah, she is scary as 'Dark Phoenix' Thanks for reviewing every chapter so far!  
  
Chapter 6: Ich möchte Glück haben!  
  
~Kurt woke up around 6:50 A.M. and at first didn't know where he was. Then he remembered. Looking around the room he noticed that some cloths were folded up and placed on top of the dresser. He hoisted himself off the bed and picked up the shirt. *I can't imagine where they got this. Somehow I don't see the Professor in anything without a coat or tie.* It also didn't look like any thing Logan would ware. It was a short sleeve oxford like shirt with a collar.   
  
~Kurt was soon changed, and searching for the kitchen. When he finally found it, it looked like a hurricane had gone through it. Or six hungry teenagers (The X-Men had already eaten and where in the Danger Room, training before school started). Feeling guilty about all the haphazardly stacked plates, even though he had nothing to do with them, he quickly washed off all the food particles that had clung to the plates and stacked them neatly, ready to be put in the dishwasher when it was time for the next load.   
  
He washed his hands and looked for something edible left over from breakfast. Seeing a bowl of fruit on the counter he grabbed an apple and almost went outside. Then he realized he didn't have his image inducer with him. He had pretty much stopped wearing it in his own dimension, but he decided to play it safe and 'ported back up to his room. After a quick search he found it and teleported back downstairs, but on the ceiling, just in case someone was now standing in the spot he had left. No one was. He flipped to the ground and stuck the apple into his mouth, which left his hands free to strap on the image inducer and turn it on. Then he walked out the door.  
  
It was a pleasant spring day, and no one else was around. ~Kurt hopped up on one of the thick stone banisters and began eating the apple. If his image inducer had been off, he would of somewhat resembled a gargoyle in the crouching pose he was in.   
  
Munching on the apple, ~Kurt noticed someone in a beat up jeep coming up to the gate. It opened and a blonde girl wearing a hot pink top and blue jeans got out of the car and started coming toward him.  
  
"Hi, has Blue gone to school yet?" she said as she marched up to the first step.  
  
"Blue?" ~Kurt asked, confused for a second, "Do you mean Kurt?"  
  
"Yeah, him. Has he gone to school already?"  
  
"Nein, not that I've seen."  
  
"You talk like him, you related?"   
  
~Kurt thought about this. "You could say that."  
  
Tabitha, for that's who it was, sat down on the other banister. "I bet your wondering why I'm here."  
  
The girl acted like she had no intention of going anywhere soon. "Slightly, ja. Do you both ride to school, together?"  
  
Tabitha laughed "No, not usually, but we were supposed to do a class project together and I forgot to do my part. So I thought I'd tell him before he got to school, and maybe we could finish it on the way."  
  
"Oh." he said and bit into the apple again. "Vhy don't you knock, or go in there? It's not locked."  
  
"Too many people in there are mad at me for leaving. Blue will come out eventually. By the way, my name is Tabitha."  
  
"It is very nice to meet you, fraulein Tabitha. My name is Kurt."  
  
"Kurt?" Tabitha's eyebrow shot up.  
  
"It is not an uncommon name." ~Kurt pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, but two guys named Kurt that both have German accents? At the institute? That's a little strange-"  
  
At that moment 'Blue' walked out the door stuffing a pop tart (his third that morning) into his mouth. "Tabby? Vhat are you doing here?"  
  
"Hi Blue!" she said brightly and latched onto his arm. "You know that project you reminded me of last week?"  
  
"Tabitha, please tell me you did it. Please!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I just forgot when I went to that party last night-"  
  
"Tabitha! This is the last time I'm going to be partners vith you, you keep 'forgetting'-"  
  
"Now don't say that, Blue, I really am sorry this time. Come on, we can get it done on the way there."  
  
"Fine, hold on a second." he said as she dragged him toward the jeep. She let go and Kurt turned around to see ~Kurt watching with an amused expression on his face.  
  
"~Kitty vas looking for you, she's in the kitchen."  
  
"Danke schön. Viel Glück mit diesem Projekt." ~Kurt said, smiling.  
  
"Danke, Ich möchte Glück haben!" Kurt said over his shoulder, as Tabitha led him to the jeep.  
  
Kitty came out six seconds later and saw Kurt leaving in what she thought was Lance's jeep. Then she noticed the blonde head behind the wheel. "Gees, like, they spend enough time together at school, and now she's taking him there to. I don't know why he puts up with her."  
  
"The fraulein, Tabitha, she is very assertive, ja?"  
  
"Yeah, waaay over assertive. And their not even going out, and he lets her walk all over him. I don't know why Amanda isn't jealous." Kitty said watching the jeep drive away with her hands on her hips.  
  
~Kurt stopped watching the jeep and turned to Kitty. "There's an Amanda here too?"   
  
"Yeah, is she your girl friend in your dimension?" Kitty was still watching the jeep, which was now a speck in the distance. ~Kurt noticed this.  
  
"Ja. Vhy?"  
  
"Oh, I dunno, I was just wondering, because I don't think she's good enough for him."   
  
With that comment, Kitty went back into the mansion.  
  
~Kurt continued eating the apple, thoughtfully.   
  
~~~~~~  
  
Ok, translation, ~Kurt said: "Thank you. Good luck with that project." And then Kurt said: "Thanks, I need all the luck I can get." If that's not what it said, it's pretty darn close.   
  
queequegg, there's some Kurttyness for you. :)   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	7. The Plot Unfurls

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. When I do, I will tell all of you and gloat.  
  
Shout out's: Auramistealia- Thanks for helping me out with this chapter. And I'm so sorry that you have to read 'Of Mice and Men' but your soooo lucky that you don't have to read 'The Grapes of Wrath'.  
  
Sci-fan-thanks for the ideas, but I think I've got a way that I can get ~Kitty to go to the school. But I can use the ~Kurt pretending to be Kurt's uncle idea later on in the story, maybe not for that scene though. Thanks again for the ideas.  
  
The Incredible Nightcrawler- I would like it if Kitty got together with Kurt too, but in the comics version I like Amanda. We don't really know a lot about her in the Evolution version though. You liked the dishes part? Yeah I thought that would be something he would do to.  
  
frizzy hair- you got your wish. :)  
  
Rogue151- I watch the old cartoon mostly to see Gambit. lol. He's great in those.  
  
StormHeart- you like the Kurtyness? Happy to oblige.  
  
Georgia Peach- I love Lockheed too. And I loved the part in X23, where Kitty is sleeping with a stuffed purple dragon.  
  
Chapter 7: The Plot Unfurls  
  
When ~Kurt finished the apple he went back inside, turned off the image inducer, and headed for the kitchen. On his way he passed a rather flustered Jean who was talking to Scott about how they were going to be late because he hadn't been able to find his car keys. Rogue, Kitty, and *What's his name again? Oh, Evan.* fallowed in their wake.   
  
When he made it to the kitchen ~Kitty was there, staring into her bowl of cereal woefully.  
  
"You vere looking for me, Kätzchen?" he said as he sat down beside her.  
  
~Kitty watched as she dropped her spoon into the milk and sugar coated corn puffs. "I woke up today and wondered why know one had gotten me up yet. Especially Lockheed, he's usually biting my feet in the morning to wake me up. And then I remembered. So I went looking for you, since you're the only thing familiar that's here."  
  
"Should I be flattered?" ~Kurt said, smiling.  
  
~Kitty flicked a sugar puff at him.  
  
~Kurt caught it and examined it. "Do ve have these at home? And how can you eat this? It's just sugar."  
  
"Uh huh. I eat them everyday." ~Kitty demonstrated how good they were by putting a spoonful in her mouth.  
  
"No vonder your so peppy in the morning. You vere on a sugar high." ~Kurt said as he read the ingredients on the cereal box.  
  
"Well, I'm not this morning. Do you think Ororo will remember to feed Lockheed?"  
  
"I'm sure she will. And if she doesn't he vill mange to eat something. I just hope it's not someone."  
  
Ignoring the tease about her beloved dragon, ~Kitty said, "It's weird to see Jean here."  
  
~Kurt nodded his head, while pouring out some of the cereal into his hand, and eating it.  
  
"You think she's going to die in this dimension?"  
  
"I have no idea Kätzchen. So many things are different here, and yet some things are the same. Theirs an Amanda here. And she is going out vith Kurt. But then there's the fact that mein freund Peter is vorking for Magneto, and that Sunfire, Thunderbird, and Banshee don't seem to exist here, or they haven't met them yet. And there's Evan, who doesn't exist in our dimension."  
  
~Kurt picked up the cereal box and poured more of the sugar puffs into his hand.  
  
"Addictive, aren't they?" ~Kitty asked, amused.  
  
"I'll be fat before ve get back to our dimension." he said agreeable.  
  
"~Kurt, do you think we can get back?"  
  
"The Professor said he would try, and remember, he said he knew someone vho could help."  
  
"I wanna know why we're hear. You think those two people Kurt saw, Gambit and Pyro, had anything to do with it?"  
  
"I don't know. It is possible I guess." ~Kurt said, as he looked sadly into the cereal box. All that was left were crumbs.  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
In a secret hide away, not that far from the Institute, a man screams at his lackeys.  
  
"What do you mean 'They never arrived'!?"  
  
Pyro played nervously with his ever present lighter. "We never saw them. Isn't it possible the machine didn't work?"  
  
Magneto glared at him. "Are you suggesting that my machine, that I invented, didn't work?"  
  
"N-n-nooo. But maybe something happened it had no control over?" Pyro said carefully.  
  
"Yes, something happened. I sent two cretins to do the job!" Magneto's face was turning purple.  
  
Gambit, who had been leaning against the wall, straightened up. "Pardon moi? Gambit don' think he heard you correctly?"  
  
"You heard me! I sent you two to do a perfectly easy mission, stand in the correct location, turn the switch, greet our guests, and bring them here!"  
  
"Oh no..." Pyro said, then placed his hand over his mouth when he realized he had said it out laud.  
  
"What was that Pyro?"   
  
"Umm..hehe...we had to be in the exact location for it to work?" the lid of the lighter was flipping up and down at a frantic rate.  
  
Gambit stared at his cohort. "We weren't at de right spot? You had de map!"  
  
"If we weren't at the exact spot we were very very close to it!"   
  
Gambit slapped his forehead with the heal of his hand. Then he asked Magneto, "Why did you send Gambit and Pyro dere? Why not Colossus or Sabertooth?"  
  
"I had considered you two to be the best of my lackeys, and whoever is standing at the specified location will attract their duplicates from the other dimension."  
  
"You wanted doubles of us?" Pyro asked.  
  
"Not anymore! When I try it again, I will send more competent people!" Magneto then stormed out of the room.  
  
Pyro's lighter's lid finally broke and fell to the floor with a clang. The screw that had kept in attached to the rest of it had worked itself lose.  
  
Gambit watched Pyro drop to the ground, searching for the elusive screw. "Dat's fine wit Gambit. He don't want to have a different dimension double of himself runnin' around."  
  
"Yeah," Pyro agreed as he picked up the screw, "that would be creepy."  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
So the story has a plot after all! How did you guys like that one? Review and tell me please! Also, I do realize I'm ignoring the 'New Recruits' and Hank McCoy. Sorry. It's much easier to write a story with a smaller cast. Oh, and Chapter 8 may take longer then usual, sorry.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	8. Star Wars and the Danger Room

Disclaimer: I own my cat. I own my cat's litter box. I own various videos and DVDs. Other then that I own very little. I don't even own my car, yet. So do you think I own a wildly popular TV series that is based on a comic? I don't think so. I also, sadly, don't own 'Star Wars'. Such is life.  
  
Shout out's: Wydinel Sheergale- sorry I didn't give you a shout out in chapter 7, the review didn't show up until after I had posted it. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Nightcrawler03- yes, that is an interesting image. :) *Gasp* You changed your name!   
  
Auramistealia- you like the plot so far? Tis good. Here's the next chapter.   
  
Teleport Master- it's a great plot? *does a little dance* Magneto doesn't want ~Kurt and ~Kitty, he wanted doubles of his most powerful and resourceful lackeys. But it didn't work. Sorry if that wasn't clear. :)  
  
Rogue151-glad you like. And please update again soon!  
  
Alliriyan- yup, I know that. Please continue her story pronto!  
  
Chapter 8: Star Wars and the Danger Room  
  
"Holy cow!" ~Kitty said. She had walked over to the sink to dump the sugar milk left over from her breakfast, when she had glanced at the calender on the side of the refrigerator. And she had noticed the date.  
  
"Vhat is it ~Kitty?" said ~Kurt as he jumped out of the chair and tried to see what she was looking at.  
  
"Look at the year!" she said, pointing at the calender.  
  
"2003. Now that's interesting" said ~Kurt.  
  
"Do you know what this means!?" ~Kitty was practically jumping up and down.  
  
"Besides the fact that ve're not just in another dimension, ve're in the future? Vhat?"  
  
"The third Star Wars movie has to be out!"   
  
At that moment Logan walked in and ~Kitty grabbed his arm still jumping up and down, saying as fast as she could verbalize "Is-the-third-Star-Wars-Movie-out!!?-What-is-it-called!?-Tell-me-tell-me-tell-me!"  
  
Logan just stared at her like she was deranged, and looked at ~Kurt for an explanation.  
  
"She vants to know if the third Star Wars movie is out, and vhat it is called."  
  
"You have 'Star Wars' in your universe?" Logan asked.  
  
"Ja, but ve have just noticed that ve are also from the past. The year was 1982, vhen ve left, and the third movie had not yet come out."  
  
"And this was the first thing you thought of when you found out?" Logan asked with his eyebrow raised.  
  
~Kurt shrugged his shoulders. ~Kitty said "So is it out?"  
  
Logan thought about it. "There are five now, I think."  
  
"FIVE!?" ~Kitty screamed  
  
Logan winced, and stepped away from ~Kitty incase she decided to scream again. "Yes, and I think the one your talking about is called 'Return of the Jedi', or somethin'."  
  
"~Kurt we have to go see it! We have to!"  
  
"We might have it. Charles has some tapes and DVD's for the kid's to watch." Logan said, as opened the fridge door and searched for some breakfast food.  
  
"DVD? What's that?" ~Kitty asked confused.  
  
Logan looked over his shoulder at her. "Its like a VHS but it's on a disk." Leaving it at that unsatisfactory explanation, he continued "While Charles is trying to get in touch with Forge, the guy that might be able to help you, do you want to try your luck in the Danger Room?"  
  
Since ~Kurt had just eaten corn puffs that were saturated with sugar, he had a lot of energy to burn. He agreed, and asked ~Kitty if she wanted to.  
  
"Sure, if it's anything like ours at home, it will be a cinch."   
  
Logan smirked at this, and said "It's not a walk through the park, darlin'."  
  
"It is for her. Doesn't your Kitty find it easy?" ~Kurt asked.  
  
"She gets knocked around as much as the other kids."  
  
"Hmm." said ~Kitty.  
  
Seven minutes later ~Kurt and ~Kitty were ready for their first bout in the Danger Room. Each were wearing grey sweat pants and a sweat shirt that had a hood attached, which had a darker grey 'X' on the front. They were in the control room with Logan, above the training ground. Logan pushed a few buttons and said "Who wants to go first?"  
  
"After you." ~Kurt said waving ~Kitty to go first.  
  
~Kitty turned to face the window that looked out to the floor below, and suddenly jumped up and dived through it. She slowly drifted to the ground and righted herself, so that she landed on her feet.  
  
"Show off." ~Kurt said grinning.  
  
Logan said through the microphone to ~Kitty "Ready?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Lets see how long she lasts." Logan said underneath his breath.  
  
~Kurt heard him and grinned.  
  
Logan hit the start button.  
  
The first thing that happened was five mechanical arms shot out of the floor and tried to wrap them selves around ~Kitty. The key word there is 'tried'.  
  
~Kurt asked Logan "You do know that she can phase, right?"  
  
Logan's fingers started rapidly typing. "I'm jus' gettin' started."  
  
The arms crawled after ~Kitty while she walked away from them looking for the new threat. One of them managed to grab her leg again, startling her, and she looked back and phased through it. But while she wasn't looking a laser bared cage popped out in front of her with one opening. ~Kitty slightly backed away from the arms and once she was in the cage a 'door' was added to it.  
  
Guessing that she probably couldn't phase through the laser beams ~Kitty looked at the ground. There were no laser beams there.  
  
"You'll have to do better then that, Mr. Logan!" she shouted as she phased into the ground and disappeared. A second later her head, and then the rest of her, came up from the floor, outside the laser cage.  
  
About twenty hand-sized missiles flew out of the ceiling and downward towards her. Mean while the arms were still moving about, and the laser cage was randomly popping up in different places. ~Kitty stood still and let them come to her. Unlike the mechanical arms, the missiles, when they hit her, were deactivated because she had scrambled their programing. *Those arms must have been specially made to not deactivate.* she thought to her self as another missile dived into her leg, and then fell to the ground, dead.  
  
Standing with her hands on her hips, ~Kitty looked up at the control room. "Is this all you got?"  
  
"Plucky little thing, aint she?" Logan said and released the next trap. Two walls, about seven feet high, came out of opposite ends of the room and rushed at top speed at ~Kitty. They had cushions covering their sides, so if anyone was caught in between them, they would only be bruised and not in need of a body cast.  
  
In appearance, it looked like ~Kitty was caught unaware of the walls, as she seemed to be crushed between them. Not so.  
  
~Kitty had been phasing the whole time since she had escaped the laser beam cage. She hadn't become solid once since then. So she keep on walking through the walls that had tried to crush her.   
  
"How long can she hold her phase?" Logan asked ~Kurt, while staring at the fourteen year old girl.  
  
"Indefinitely, as far as I know. Ve've never tested how long she can." ~Kurt said, smiling as he looked at the amazed expression on Logan's face.  
  
"Our Kitty can't phase for that long. Send some missiles at her and she'll most likely be hit by one." Logan explained.  
  
"Not our Kätzchen." ~Kurt said proudly.  
  
"Test is over, kid. Come on up."   
  
~Kitty walked on the molecules, like they were stairs, up to the room and jumped and phased through the window again.  
  
"Well, that was easy." she said as she sat down on one of the chairs and put her feet up on another one.  
  
Logan mumbled something uncomprehensible, and started setting up a new routine.  
  
"Think you can beat that, fuzzy?" ~Kitty said, smiling.  
  
"Zuschauen mich." ~Kurt said, as he 'bamfed' down to the ground.  
  
***Logan would you please show our guests up to my office, Forge has arrived.***  
  
***Sure Chuck.***  
  
***It's 'Charles', Logan, not 'Chuck'.***  
  
"The Professor just said that Forge has arrived. We have to head on up to his office."  
  
~Kurt teleported back to the control room.   
  
~Kitty said "You got lucky ~Kurt."  
  
"Ha. I would have beat you."  
  
"Keep telling yourself that."   
  
~Kurt bared his fangs in a mock growl.  
  
~Kitty laughed and headed back to the changing rooms.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Translation: "Zuschauen mich." means "Watch me."   
  
I had a lot of trouble with that chapter, and I hope it doesn't show. Just in case you wanted to know, 'The Return of the Jedi' originally came out in 1983. Oh, and ~Kitty acing the Danger Room happened in the comics, but not exactly like I wrote it. The Uncanny X-Men, issue 141, one of my favorite issues. You all should read it. This is turning out to be a many chaptered story, (yes, I know I have short chapters) add one more chapter and it's the longest fan fiction I've ever written. Hope you guys stick around. Now review and tell me what you think. Come on, I know you can do it.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	9. Far Out

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning the rights of the X-Men. Nothing. Nota. Zip. Savvy?  
  
Shout out's: Nightcrawler03- I liked your old name a little bit better, but both still have our favorite blue elf's name so it's all good. Darn, I forgot to mention that there would be more Star Wars movies...hmm..I'll have to get that in there.  
  
Rogue151- Don't worry, Rogue is coming up soon! I think I'm going to have ~Kitty, Kitty, and Rogue go to the mall...hehehe...  
  
Georgia Peach- Thank you!  
  
Sci-fan- I don't think I'm going to do that, but I am going to get ~Kitty to do to their school. Thanks for the ideas.  
  
Auramistealia- I know, I have the shortest chapters ever. I'm sorry! And this one is even shorter then the last one!  
  
hnh- thanks for going outside of what you normally read for this story! And you liked the Danger room part? Good, I was real worried it didn't come out right.  
  
bant- you like the German conversations? :) I like them too, and there will be more!  
  
Chapter 9: Far Out  
  
In the Professor's office Forge was telling Xavier and Ororo about his newest invention, and all the technology used to make it. Ororo's eyes looked like they had glazed over, but she nodded her head every once in awhile to show a polite interest. The Professor was also nodding periodically, but Ororo suspected he had tuned Forge out as soon as he had realized that the invention was nothing he was, or every will be, interested in.  
  
So when ~Kurt, ~Kitty, and Logan finally arrived, Ororo was immensely relieved.  
  
"Forge," Xavier interrupted the technological rumblings, "This is ~Kurt Wagner and ~Katherine Pryde from the other dimension."  
  
Forge smiled at them and said "Far out." Then turning to Logan, "Hi Logan, miss me?"  
  
Logan grunted something, and leaned against the wall, his trade mark stance during any meeting.  
  
"Professor, we've just realized that we're also from the past, 1982." ~Kitty said as she seated herself in one of the expensive chairs.  
  
"Dude, you didn't notice this when you first arrived?" Forge asked.  
  
"Ve veren't exactly looking out for it." ~Kurt said.  
  
"Forge, here, is the someone I thought could help you return to your universe. He spent about thirty years in a different dimension himself."  
  
~Kitty looked Forge over. He had hair down to his shoulders and had a goatee. He looked sixteen or seventeen. "Did time stop there, or something?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, you see I was working on one of my experiments and it somehow trapped me in this other dimension I named 'Middleverse'. I could see people in our verse, but they couldn't see me. Then Kurt found my lab at the high school and stumbled into Middleverse himself. The X-Men figured out what happened and used my experiment to bring us both back."  
  
"That experiment, could it send us back to our dimension?" ~Kurt asked.  
  
"I wouldn't try zapping you guys with it and just hoping it got you to the right place. I'd have to know where to direct it. Did you bring anything electronic with you?" Forge asked.  
  
~Kurt lifted his arm to show his image inducer.  
  
"Alright! Can I see it?"  
  
~Kurt took of the watch and placed it into Forges out stretched hand.  
  
"You don't mind if I fiddle with it, do you? I think this will help me with directing my experiment."  
  
"As long as I get it back in vorking condition."  
  
"Don't worry, it's safe with me."  
  
"Forge would you like to work on it in the lab, here?" Xavier asked.  
  
"That would be great. I think I brought everything I'll need." he said, as he stood up and lifted a book bag up from the ground. It was bulging with tools and pieces of equipment.  
  
"Hey, would you guys like to hear about my newest invention?" Forge asked ~Kurt and ~Kitty.  
  
Since Forge had his back to Ororo, she felt no hesitation about warning them. She waved her hands frantically while mouthing 'No!'.  
  
~Kurt took the hint and answered Forge. "I'm not very good vith electronics," (which was slightly a lie) "I can fix the X-Jet, but that's about it, I think I'd just get lost."  
  
~Kitty, however, was very interested. As she and Forge walked out the door heading to the lab, Ororo shook her head. "I tried to warn her."  
  
"Don't vorry. She's very good vith computers and other technological things. Do you think he'll really be able to help us get home?" ~Kurt asked the Professor.  
  
"He is your best bet. If he can't, I don't know who can."  
  
~~~READ THIS ANNOUNCEMENT!~~~   
  
My school starts tomorrow. (dum dum dum) I won't be able to update as fast as I have been. Maybe every weekend I'll be able to. Or I'm exaggerating and I'll be able to continue updating the way I have been. I'm not sure yet. I'm just warning everyone. I will NOT abandon this story, unless unforseen events such as my death, or the computer blows up etc. etc. etc. happens. So other then if those said events happen I will try my best to finish the story. I appreciate all the support and the ideas I have received and I will try to live up to all your expectations. I love you guys!   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	10. Carol Danvers

Disclaimer: Ugh. I'm to tired for this. I don't own the X-Men. Marvel does. Ok?  
  
Shout out's: Rogue151- thanks for reviewing and for the update. Here's more Rogue for you!  
  
Nightcrawler03- you liked that? Good. I was trying for humor. :)  
  
Auramistealia-thanks for reviewing, and for your help with my spelling needs, lol.  
  
bant- yes! School is evil! Mine especially! I don't understand, school's always been hard for me, but this is ridiculous! I thought it was supposed to get easier once you became an Upper Classman. *sigh* Yeah, Comic Kitty was real good with computers and stuff. Thanks for reviewin'.  
  
Beboots- glad you like it. :) I like the comic Kurt the best, first of all, I guess, because I read the comics first, and second because he's supposed to be scary. I don't think the Evo Kurt is scary. Cute is more like it. But I love all the Kurt versions, movie Kurt last in popularity though. Yay to all the Kurts!   
  
Georgia Peach-yeah, I have zero time too, with working on homework all the time, and I'm still going to fail the classes! Arg.   
  
Rogue Pryde- don't worry, I will try my hardest not to abandon it. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
sci-fi fan- Sorry, Lockheed won't be in the Evo universe, at least, I'm not planning on it at the moment. lol, I can see him attacking Toad, though.  
  
Chapter 10: Carol Danvers  
  
Three figures lay hidden in the shrubbery. They where far enough away from the Institute that neither the Professor or Jean would notice them, unless they were searching for intruders. One spy had high powered binoculars up to his eyes as he watched for any activity from the occupants of the mansion. Since the teenager with the backpack full of equipment had driven up, nothing of interest had happened. But before that, before the younger X-Men had gone to school, the spy had seen someone that was new to the Institute, and if his suspicions where right-  
  
"Gambit?"  
  
Gambit sighed. "Oui Pyro?"  
  
"Nothing's happening. I'm bored. Why are we here again?"  
  
"As he has told you before, Gambit has suspicions."  
  
"I think it is time you told us what your suspicious are of." said Colossus.  
  
Gambit put down his binoculars. "Pyro did tell you 'bout Magneto's plan to get 'im new recruits? Mainly Pyro and Gambit's doubles in another universe?"  
  
"Da. But it didn't work." Colossus paused. "Right?"  
  
"Gambit been rememberin' that night, and he remember seeing two of de X-Men at de location. He also saw dem leave wit' two people he never seen before. We where in de wrong location for de machine to work, or so we thought, but what if it did work? What if the two X-Men were in de right spot to attract dere doubles?"  
  
"And you think that the two extra people you saw leave with them are their doubles?"  
  
"It is possible, non?"  
  
Pyro had been listening silently. Now he spoke up. "Why didn't you tell Magneto about your idea?"  
  
Colossus and Gambit looked at each other over top of Pyro's head. Gambit said "Why should Magneto need to know?"  
  
Watching the three figures was another member of the Acolytes. And he listened to everything that was said before heading back to his boss.  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
Later that day, the school going X-Men returned to the Institute, tired and hungry. Once again the kitchen was mobbed, this time for afternoon snacks. ~Kitty had just returned from helping Forge with the messier part of the invention, and her hands and face were smeared with oil.   
  
Kitty immediately noticed this. "Hey, like, do want to come up to my room? You really need a manicure, and I'd like to know more stuff about your dimension."  
  
~Kitty smiled. "Sure. Sounds fun." She had wondered what she was going to do for the rest of the day, and a manicure sure sounded good right about now.  
  
"Okay," Kitty said brightly, "and we can, like, talk girl-talk. Rogue, I share a room with her, isn't the best, like, conversationalist, you know? And I have to tell you about this guy, in my Chemistry class...."  
  
~Kitty listened to her prattle on, and counted how many times the word 'like' was used. *I don't sound like that, do I?* she wondered as she followed Kitty up the stairs.  
  
Rogue was already in the room, trying to do her homework.   
  
~Kitty watched as Kitty flopped on to her bed and reached under it, pulling out a bag of hand care essentials. She un-zipped it and allowed all the items to fall out in a pile.  
  
Rogue stared at, what she considered, the implements of torture. A nail file, hand lotion, nail clippers, nail buffer, a jar of nail polish remover, various metal sticks to push back cuticles, and many colorful bottles of nail polish lay in a seemingly innocent pile. Rogue glanced at her own hands, and was suddenly grateful for her gloves. At least Kitty wouldn't want to give her a manicure.   
  
"Wow...you sure do have a lot of pink nail polish." ~Kitty observed as she picked up a bottle of nail polish, called "Passion Pink."  
  
"Yeah, it's, like, my favorite color."  
  
Rogue smirked and said, "Who'd uh thunk?" Kitty was wearing her pink sweater, and her notebooks, which she had brought upstairs, were mostly pink and purple.  
  
"Hey, at least it's cheery." Kitty said as she scanned Rogue's apparel, which consisted of a dark purple long sleeved shirt, black skirt, dark gray leggings, and combat boots, which she had relaced with purple shoe laces.  
  
Rogue ignored her, and continued her homework.  
  
"Anyway," Kitty said, as she held up some nail polish to ~Kitty's hand, judging if it was a good color for her, "I wanted to know about Colossus in your dimension. He's one of the X-Men?"  
  
"Yeah, he was a X-Men before me." ~Kitty said as she ran the file over her nails.  
  
Rogue looked up from her U.S. History book. "Ah noticed that Ah' was not mentioned in the history that was told yesterday, does that mean Ah don't exist in your universe?"  
  
"Oh, no, you exist, but your older and you've just joined." ~Kitty said, not mentioning that she didn't really like the Rogue in her universe.  
  
"Do Ah have the same power's and look the same?"  
  
"I dunno, what are your powers? Your hair is different, its shorter and the white streak is thicker, and goes from your forehead to the back of your head."  
  
"Ah can suck the powers and memories from whoever Ah touch, and for a brief time Ah can use their powers."  
  
"That's some of what she can do, but she can also fly, and is super strong."  
  
"Really? That's interesting. Ah'd like to be able to fly." Rogue said thoughtfully.  
  
~Kitty thought about if she should explain why Rogue was able to fly. She decided she should. "The only reason she is super strong and can fly is because she took another mutants power."  
  
Rogue and Kitty stared at her. ~Kitty continued hurriedly, "She didn't mean to take it permanently...I don't know the whole story, but she somehow stole Carol Danvers powers when she touched her and it stayed with her, and left Carol striped of her powers and any memory of who she was."  
  
Rogue shuddered, remembering the times when she had briefly thought she was someone else after touching them. She could still hear their voices inside her head if she tried. But the people she had touched had always been alright, after the first shock. Well, except Cody. But that had been a prolonged touch, and when her mutant powers had first manifested itself. "Was Carol an enemy or something? Or did the other me touch her by accident?"  
  
~Kitty looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Uh, well, you were the bad guy."  
  
"Like, wow." said Kitty.   
  
"What?" said Rogue, like she hadn't heard right.  
  
"Umm, you were with Mystique and the Brotherhood before you joined us."  
  
"Rogue, that's like what happened here too. Mystique tricked her into joining the Brotherhood for awhile." Kitty explained to ~Kitty.  
  
"So how'd Ah, Ah mean she, end up joining the X-Men?" Rogue asked.  
  
"She came to ask help from the Professor, she couldn't tell which memories where her own or Carol's. I remember what she said, 'Ah look into a mirror and see a strangers face!'. Carol's memories didn't fade away like the other people she had touched. She said Mystique didn't understand, and couldn't help her. When the Professor tried to read her mind to see if she was telling the truth, he said he couldn't read it very well since there were 'two diametrically opposed thought patterns' in her mind."  
  
"What happened to Carol?" asked Kitty.  
  
"She never fully regained her memories, even though the Professor tried to help. But she was able to move on with her life."  
  
Rogue asked "What happened to me?"   
  
"Our Rogue joined the X-Men, and is still with us, but when Carol found out the Professor had let her join, she was real mad, and we haven't seen her since." ~Kitty, along with the rest of the X-men, had been friends with Carol, and ~Kitty still hadn't quite forgiven Rogue for what she had done to Carol, and couldn't help the hint of resentment in her answer.  
  
If Rogue noticed it, she didn't let on that she had. She said "Kitty, ya should stop rubbing in that lotion before your hand gets prunie." Kitty, throughout the conversation, had been mindlessly applying hand lotion to her arms and hands, and rubbing it in repeatedly. Now she looked at her arms and noticed they were slathered in lotion. "Ick." she said, holding her arms out in front of her, so the lotion wouldn't touch her cloths. "I'll be back after I wash this off."   
  
When she had left, Rogue asked "Was the Professor able ta help her?"  
  
"A little. Carol's memories didn't try to take control over her own anymore, but the slightest touch transfers that person's memories and abilities to her. With that, he hasn't been much help."  
  
*Just like it is here.* Rogue thought.  
  
Kitty came back into the room and said "You know what?"  
  
Rogue waited for her to continue, but ~Kitty said, "What?"  
  
"I want to go do something. Like go to the mall or something. Yeah, the mall. You want to come ~Kitty?"   
  
"Okay."   
  
"What about you, Rogue? Feel like it?"  
  
Surprising herself and Kitty, Rogue said "Alright. Got nothing better ta do." Then she chucked her text book into her open book bag and didn't look to see if it made it in.  
  
Kitty smiled. "Great! I'll go see if Jean wants to go."  
  
Rogue rolled her eyes, but Kitty didn't notice as she went out of the room in search of Jean. But ~Kitty did.  
  
"You don't like Jean?" she asked Rogue.  
  
"Noticed that, did ya?"  
  
~Kitty didn't answer that, and Rogue said "She's just...to perfect. In everything and every way. It...irritates me."  
  
As ~Kitty followed her out of the room, she wondered if Rogue didn't like Jean for the same reason the Rogue in her dimension hated Dazzler, because she was a mutant with all the things Rogue could never have.  
  
~*~ x ~*~   
  
Sabertooth sped back to Magneto's hide out. Upon reaching the seemingly abandoned warehouse, he pushed a hidden button and a small keyboard reveled itself. Quickly punching in his password, he then placed his clawed hand on the screen which was above the keyboard. His fingerprints and palm were scanned and then a beep signaled that the door was opening as the screen and keyboard went back into hiding.   
  
Sabertooth made his way to the innermost room, to Magneto's office. Remembering what had almost happened to Pyro when he hadn't knocked, (Magneto had threatened to impale the poor Australian with paper clips, which would be a rather grisly death) Sabertooth rapped on the door. A quit 'Come in.' greeted him, and he did so.   
  
Inside he found Magneto receiving a report on the Brotherhood from his son, Pietro. Quicksilver sneered at him, and in return Sabertooth growled softly back.   
  
"That will be all, Pietro. Report back to me when you have actually made progress with those delinquents."   
  
Pietro glared at his father, Magneto chose to ignore it, and then used his mutant ability to remove himself from the office, meaning he ran super fast out of the room.  
  
"What is it, Victor?" Magneto asked.  
  
Sabertooth then summarized what he had heard when he had been spying on Remy, John, and Piotr. Or Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus, whatever you prefer.  
  
After he had finished, Magneto looked thoughtful. "Thank you Victor. You've given me much food for thought. Please return to Xavier's Institute, and keep an eye on our erstwhile colleagues."  
  
Sabertooth started to leave, when Magneto postponed him. "And make sure you find out if Gambit's theory is correct."  
  
Nodding his head, Sabertooth left Magneto, who was pondering this new information.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
I think that is my longest chapter yet. From now on I will try to make my chapters this long. Now, when you review, wish me Happy Birthday, because it is my birthday today. It will be like little Happy Birthday cards, when I see all your lovely reviews. So humor me please.  
  
Now click the purple button, and make my day.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	11. Crisis in the Mall

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it!  
  
Shout out's: Auramistealia- I did. :) lol, yeah I need three sources to be able to spell everything I want to. I actually know some pretty big words, I just can't spell them. Life is very frustrating.  
  
Rogue151- I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! And thank you for the stuffed eagle. I already have a real stuffed animal Tiger. :)  
  
scifi-fan- hehe, he'll(~Kurt) be laughing for sure. I do intend for him to met them sometime. *sigh* So many things to put in this story...  
  
bant- yeah, I wish Kurt was in the old cartoons more then he is. He only gets in three episodes I think, and I've seen two of them. School...arg. That says it all.  
  
Glaivester- thanks for reviewing! Hope to hear from you again!  
  
JB- thank you! Don't worry, I will. :)  
  
Georgia Peach- thank you for the singing lol. Yes, Rogue is showing her Goth self in the mall. This should be interesting...  
  
StormHeart- I'm glad you like how I've done Gambit. I was a little wary of having the Acolytes in this story because I didn't know how I would be able to portray them, but it seems to be working out ok. Yup, they do have to leave the Evo verse sometime...but not just yet.  
  
Electric Russian- I'm glad you love it. :)   
  
Notes: I know I usually do this at the end of the chapter, but I just wanted to say this one thing here, before you read the rest. From now on I will try to do Pyro's accent. You see, I didn't know how to write it before, but now I think I have an idea. My thanks go to The Phantom and her story 'Dude, Where's My Accent?' which is very funny, and has every foreign persons accent stereotypical overdone, on purpose. Unfortunately, I still don't know how to do Colossus's accent, except that some authors have him inserting a 'v' where there should be a 'w'. But isn't that to much like Kurt's accent? So I'm leaving Colossus without an accent, until I figure it out.  
  
Chapter 11: Crisis in the Mall  
  
It took a lot longer to get out of the mansion then ~Kitty thought it would. Kitty couldn't find Jean, but she had found Amanda and Kurt in the TV room studying together for a test.   
  
While Rogue and ~Kitty waited in one of Xavier's numerous cars, Kitty kept interrupting Kurt and Amanda. After the fourth time Kitty had wondered in, saying excuses such as 'I think I left my purse in here' Amanda commented on it.  
  
"Kurt, why does Kitty keep coming back in here?"  
  
"Vas?"   
  
"You haven't noticed? She's come in here maybe three or four times."  
  
Kurt had not noticed because he was fully diverting his concentration in two areas, studying, and Amanda. But even he found it odd, when Kitty came into the room again and pushed Amanda and him apart, saying she was looking for her wallet in between the cushions they were sitting on. Amanda observed that when she sat closer to Kurt, after Kitty had searched for her wallet, an expression had crossed Kitty's face so quickly that Amanda almost didn't catch it.   
  
Kurt, oblivious to this, asked Kitty where she was going.  
  
"Oh, ~Kitty, Rogue, and I are going to the mall. Rogue said she would drive us there."  
  
Kurt decided not to mention that Rogue couldn't legally drive without a licensed driver in the car. The mall wasn't that far away, she most likely wouldn't be caught.   
  
Outside, in the car Rogue was borrowing, ~Kitty said "What's taking her so long?"  
  
Rogue fiddled with the car keys while answering, "She probably ran inta Kurt and Amanda."  
  
"And...?" ~Kitty asked, thinking there was more to this statement that met the eye.  
  
"Ya don't know? Kitty as a crush on Kurt. Of coarse she didn't figure this out until after he met Amanda."  
  
"That's...weird."~Kitty said, which was a mild version of what she was really thinking.  
  
"How so? Oh...yeah, that would be weird in your dimension. But their the same age group here. Ah bet ya she's in there, trying ta keep an eye on the goings on between him and Amanda. Come on, lets go get her." Rogue said, and then got out of the car.  
  
~Kitty and Rogue found Kitty trying to get Kurt to help her to look for her still missing wallet.  
  
Rogue coughed, and said "Kitty are ya done interruptin' Kurt and Amanda's study date?"  
  
Kitty blushed and said "I'm, like, not trying to interrupt anything! I can't find my wallet, and all my money is in it."  
  
Rogue, observing the slight bulge in Kitty's pants, pointed at the pocket and said "Ah do believe it's in your pocket."  
  
Kitty's blush turned a deeper hue and she laughed nervously. "Oh. Ha ha, like, I didn't even think about it being there!" After that she quickly said "Umm, bye Kurt! Bye Amanda!" and rushed out the door.  
  
Rogue and ~Kitty followed her out.  
  
"Wow." said Amanda.  
  
"Sometimes Kitty can be a little absentminded." said Kurt.  
  
Amanda lifted one eyebrow and stared at her clueless boyfriend. "Yeah, absentminded." was all she said.  
  
~*~ x ~*~   
  
On the drive to the mall Kitty sputtered at Rogue, "Like, I can't believe you did that!"  
  
"Did what?" asked Rogue as she came to a stop, to let some pedestrians cross the cross walk.  
  
"You know what you did! You, like, totally embarrassed me in there!"  
  
~Kitty started humming to herself quietly, acting like she wasn't listening to the conversation.  
  
Rogue started moving again, narrowly missing running over a slower walking pedestrian.  
  
"Did ya know your wallet was in your pocket?" she asked.  
  
Kitty crossed her arms and said, "You know perfectly well what I was doing in there."  
  
"Kitty," Rogue said, as she slammed on the brakes when a little old lady made a dash for the other side of the road. "Ya need ta leave Kurt and Amanda alone. You could have had your chance with him, but you didn't want to. Now that he has a girlfriend ya all the sudden what him back."  
  
Kitty didn't say anything to that, and just slouched farther down in her seat. It was pretty quit after that, until Kitty asked ~Kitty what she wanted to look at in the mall. 'Cloths' was the immediate answer, and Kitty grinned at this.   
  
"And could we go by the video store? I checked what movies you guys have at the mansion, and you only have 'Star Wars: A New Hope'. So could we buy 'Return of the Jedi', and the two newer ones?"  
  
"Sure." said Rogue. "And since its for the mansion's movie library, we can get the Professor ta reimburse us for it."  
  
"Oh, that reminds me, while I was looking for Jean, I ran into the Professor and he gave me some money to give to you, so you can, like, buy some cloths for yourself." Kitty told ~Kitty as she handed a wad of dollar bills to her.   
  
~Kitty stared at the amount of money. "I'm not going to need all this for cloths!"  
  
"Prices have gone up since 1982. Believe me you'll need all of it."  
  
~Kitty stuffed the cash into her pocket.  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
John waited impatiently in front of the book store. Remy waited also, but he wasn't fidgeting like John was. He just looked bored.  
  
John finally asked "How long 'as he been in theah?"  
  
"Five more minutes since you last asked." Remy answered.  
  
When Piotr had wanted to go to the new book store in the mall, Remy and John had gone with him. They had the day off from henchmen duty and had been bored. When Piotr had first gone into the book store they had gone in there with him. After a half hour Remy and John had decided to meet back with Piotr when he was done browsing through books, and go look into some stores that interested them. That was an hour and forty-two minutes ago. They had come back to find Piotr still in the book store, and he looked like he was becoming a permanent fixture of the place.   
  
John sighed. Today had not been fun. After they had left Piotr, John had gone off in the search of fire. Remy had not allowed him to bring his lighter, and since he was in civilian cloths, he didn't have his flame throwers. When he had finally found a candle shop, which had some of the scented kinds lighted, John had perked up. When no one was looking he started to make the fire weave in and out of each other, like they were strings and he was braiding them. Remy found him before the sales clerk had noticed and had dragged him out. Then they had come back to the book store. John sighed again, a little louder this time.  
  
Remy rolled his red on black eyes. "If Remy goes in dere, and see's what is takin' Piotr so long, will you stay here? Or does Remy have to bring you in with him?"  
  
"I don't need to be babysat!"  
  
Remy stared at him, and taking John's silence for a 'yes', went back into the book store.  
  
John sat down on the bench that was right outside the short hallway that led to the bathrooms. He then noticed someone who looked familiar going into a video store. Make that two someones. A third girl was with them, and had a remarkable similarity to the one he recognized as Shadowcat.  
  
*I guess the X-Men have day offs too.* he thought, as he watched them enter the shop.  
  
  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
~Kitty looked around at the many VHS's and DVD's on display in wonder. Rogue went up to one of the clerks and asked where the Star Wars' movies where. Kitty sale a 'on sale' bin full of movies and ran over to see what was in there.  
  
A little boy was sitting on the floor by his mother, as she read the backs of the new releases. He had a little rubber ball with him, and was rolling it on the floor around his feet. ~Kitty watched him with a smile on her face, and saw the ball roll under a shelf that was displaying some of the 'Hot New Releases'.   
  
The boy tried to crawl under the shelf but couldn't fit all the way. This did not stop him from trying to reach the ball though. But forcing himself to fit into the small space was making the flimsy shelf wobble. And it started to fall.   
  
~Kitty reacted. She grabbed the little boy and phased. The shelf fell throw them and crashed onto the floor, making a surprising amount of noise. ~Kitty stood in the middle of it, holding the child.   
  
Normally, if someone had made a display fall down, the reaction wouldn't be horrible. The perpetrator would be embarrassed, and the clerks might be mad, but if nothing was broken, it wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately, the clerk and some of the customers had noticed ~Kitty phasing.  
  
"What did you do that for, freak!?" yelled the sales man coming towards ~Kitty, automatically assuming that she had caused the shelf to fall. The irresponsible mother snatched the toddler from ~Kitty and backed away from her, crying about how the mutie had tried to hurt her baby. Seeing his mother crying, the boy started wailing.  
  
~Kitty just stood there, dumbfounded. She had just saved a child from injury and these people looked like they wanted to stone her to death. Rogue pushed her way through the growing crowd around ~Kitty and grabbed her by the arm.   
  
"Start phasing." Rogue whispered, and then ran throw the crowd. They wouldn't have gotten away if ~Kitty hadn't of phased them through. The group of people seemed to want to keep them there. Kitty was still standing by the 'on sale' bin.  
  
"What happened?" she asked, as Rogue grabbed her by the arm and towed both younger girls towards the exit.   
  
"Run." said Rogue has they heard cries of "Stop them! Thieves! You won't get away with this!" filling the video store. When the made it outside of the store, into the middle of the mall, Rogue looked wildly around for someplace to hide. That's when a hand shoved her into the Men's bathroom and since she was holding onto both Kittys they were pulled in to. A boy said "Stay in 'ere!" and then went out of the bathroom. Rogue could hear people running around and shouts of "Did they go into the bathrooms?"   
  
Another voice said "No, I was just in theah, but I saw three girls runnin' tha' way!"  
  
The commotion died down. Rogue took this time to gather her wits, and realized why the mob had called them thieves. The three videos were in a plastic bag with the handles looped around her wrist. She had been in the act of paying for the videos when she had realized what was going on. She hadn't finished paying when she had run to ~Kitty's aid.   
  
"Did that guy that pulled us in here look familiar to you?" Kitty asked Rogue.  
  
'That guy' reentered the bathroom just then and said, "Their gone now. Now wot did you do to cause such a ruckus?"   
  
Rogue scanned the boy over. He grinned and suddenly Rogue knew who he was. It was the insane grin that she had seen on one of the Acolytes. *Oh Gawd, why did we have to be rescued by the crazy one?* she thought.  
  
In answer to John's question ~Kitty, who didn't know who he was, cried "We didn't do anything! There was this little boy, and the rubber ball, and the shelf and-"  
  
"~Kitty! Calm down." Rogue snapped. ~Kitty hiccuped, and wiped her eyes.  
  
John's grin faded. "She's not cryin', is she?"  
  
"She'll be fine. Now why did ya help us?" Rogue asked, suspecting John's motives.  
  
John opened his mouth, and then closed it. A thoughtful look came over his face, and he said, "I don't really know."  
  
The door to the bathroom opened and a muscular boy who looked about eighteen or nineteen stopped and stared at them. In his hands he had two bags, filled with books. "John," he said slowly, "What are you doing?"  
  
The grin reappeared. "Wot's it look like mate? Come on in 'ere and join the party!"  
  
Piotr entered the bathroom cautiously. Recognizing the two X-Men his curiosity piqued.  
  
~Kitty cried out "It's Peter!"  
  
"Do I know you?" Piotr asked courteously.  
  
~Kitty said "Well, no, not here anyway."  
  
The bathroom door opened again, and a ten year old boy poked his head in. His eyes widened upon observing the three girls, and he checked the sign on the door. It clearly said 'Men'. Watching the Acolytes and the X-Men, he slowly backed away from the door and closed it.   
  
"Maybe we should lock the doah." John said.  
  
"I don't think you can." said ~Kitty pensively.  
  
"Ah have a better idea," said Rogue, wondering if they had all gone mad, "we should get out of the men's bathroom!"  
  
"Da." said Piotr, "we should, but why are you in here in the first place?"  
  
Outside the bathroom, Remy was looking for John. A group of people, with two security guards, ran by, screaming about mutants in the mall. Remy opened a pocket in his trench coat, and pulled out sunglasses, which he put over his unique eyes.  
  
Hearing what he thought was John's voice coming from the bathroom, he opened the door and stepped in saying, "There's a witch hunt goin' on, and Remy thinks we should get out of here..." he stopped when he saw the female members of the X-Men. "Bonjour chèrie," he said to Rogue, bowing slightly, "Pourrais je te demander ce que tu fais ici?"  
  
Rogue glared at him, remembering the first time they had met, when he had almost blown her head of with his charged card.   
  
"And this must be de double of Shadowcat. Enchanté, mademoiselle." he would have grabbed her hand and kissed it if ~Kitty had not moved back slightly, and said with wide eyes "How do you know about that?"  
  
"Gambit knows 'bout a lot of things." Remy said smugly.   
  
Rogue's mind whirled. If Gambit new about ~Kurt and ~Kitty, the only reasonable explanation was-  
  
"Magneto brought them here." she said, still glaring at Remy.  
  
"By accident." said John.  
  
"What?" asked Kitty.  
  
"He tried to bring the doubles of John and Remy from your dimension," Piotr said, looking at ~Kitty "but it didn't work, and instead brought you and the man here."  
  
"~Kurt" said ~Kitty.  
  
"Huh?" said John.  
  
"The man is ~Kurt-, oh, never mind."  
  
"Ain't he the furry one?"  
  
"Isn't. Isn't he the furry one." said Kitty, correcting John's grammar.  
  
Rogue said "We're getting off topic here, how did Magneto bring them to our universe?"  
  
"With his thingamajig." said John.  
  
"Come again?"  
  
Piotr cut of John when he began to speak again, and said "He has a machine he made, that pulls the doubles of whoever is standing in the right spot out of their dimension."  
  
"You were at the mall, when Kurt and I were." said Kitty.  
  
"Yes. We were. You," said John accusingly, pointing at Kitty, "were in the roight spot, and caused yoah doubles to come."  
  
"Because you two were in the wrong spot." Piotr said to Remy and John.  
  
John stuck his tongue out at Piotr.  
  
"Could that machine take us back?" asked ~Kitty.  
  
"I have no idea." said Piotr.  
  
"We need to get a hold of that machine. If Forge could mess around with it, he could figure out what it could do, and maybe send ~Kurt and I home." ~Kitty said to Rogue and Kitty.   
  
As one, the three girls turned to look at the three Acolytes.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Now that was my longest chapter ever! I had fun doing that one, but I don't think it was my best. What do you think about John's accent? Or did you think it was all spelling errors? lol. Writing John's character is fun. Oh, translation, Remy asked: "May I ask what you are doing here?" or I think he did. It's close anyway. Now clickith the puce colored button at the bottom of the screen, and make a comment about this chapter, or the story in general. Hopefully a positive comment.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	12. Movie Night

Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Princess Bride'. I don't own Star Wars. I don't own the X-Men. Or the Acolytes. Or the Brotherhood. Or...you get the idea.  
  
Note: This chapter has some slight (and I mean slight) spoilers for 'The Return of the Jedi'. So if you've never seen it,(I find that very hard to believe, but I guess it's possible) then stop reading this chapter, go rent the movie, watch it, then return. Or if you really don't care, just keep reading.  
  
Shout out's: Auramistealia- I'm sorry your on crouches, hope you heel up fast! And I'm glad this was an amusing diversion. :)  
  
Rogue151- accents are hard, someone needs to write a book, showing how you would write them. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Nightcrawler03- glad you loved it :)  
  
StormHeart- the last one was the best? Yay! I didn't think it was as well written, but it was the most fun to write.  
  
Evil-Cheese-Monkey- I'm glad this is one of your favorites, hope you keep reviewing!  
  
JB- I did fine on the accent? Thanks, I was a little bit worried about it.  
  
Alliriyan- thank you for reviewing and writing the last chapter in your fic.  
  
Suzaka- yes, poor ~Kitty. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Chapter 12: Movie Night  
  
"We can take them!" said Kitty as she got in her fighting stance.  
  
Remy quirked an eyebrow, Piotr's mouth quivered with contained laughter, and John looked a little worried.  
  
"Kitty," said an exasperated Rogue, "Ah highly doubt they have it with them."  
  
"Oh." said Kitty putting her fists down.  
  
"What makes you think we won't just give it to you?" asked Remy.  
  
"You would?" ~Kitty asked hopefully.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"If?" asked Rogue.  
  
"If you, chèrie, would forgive Gambit for almost killing you when we first met."  
  
Kitty asked, flabbergasted, "That's all!?"  
  
"Oui."  
  
Rogue stared at Remy. Then she looked at John and Piotr. John was staring at Remy, then at Rogue with a confused expression on his face, and Piotr was looking highly amused.  
  
"Fine. Ah will forgive ya if ya give us that machine."   
  
"All right den. When should we deliver it, and where?"  
  
Piotr and John both noticed the 'we', but decided to let it go without comment.  
  
"At the mansion. Tomorrow at...four o'clock. Just ring the door bell and then hand us it."  
  
"Magneto might find out..." said John, trailing off.  
  
"Ah'm sure one of ya can manage to get away unnoticed."  
  
Since ~Kitty had not said anything for a while Rogue looked around the bathroom for her. ~Kitty was rifling through one of Piotr's bag of books.  
  
"Ohhh." ~Kitty said appreciatively, staring at the cover of a paper back book.  
  
Piotr had just noticed what she was doing too. He tilted the bag so that ~Kitty could see into it better.  
  
"Thanks," said ~Kitty, "Could I barrow this one?"  
  
"~Kitty!" said both Rogue and Kitty.  
  
"What? Oh, sorry, it's just in my dimension I'm always borrowing books and stuff from Peter. My mind wondered a bit there."  
  
"We are not enemies in your universe?" Piotr asked.  
  
"Nope. You're an X-Men."  
  
This seemed to startle Piotr.  
  
"~Kitty, we don't have time for ya to give a history of your Colossus. Sooner or later someone's going to find us in here." said Rogue.  
  
"Until tomorrow at four o'clock den." said Remy, bowing slightly, and exited the bathroom. John did a mock bow, imitating Remy, which made Kitty giggle, and went out. Piotr followed him, with a thoughtful expression on his face.  
  
~Kitty belatedly realized she still was holding Piotr's book.  
  
"Now what should we do?" asked Kitty.  
  
"We need to get back to the Institute before a crazed mob finds us. Any ideas?" said Rogue.  
  
"We'll, duh, we can phase." said Kitty, waving her hand to include ~Kitty.  
  
"Do ya remember where Ah parked the car?"  
  
"I think so, do we, like, just make a dash towards it, phasing through all the walls and people?"  
  
~Kitty said "How about we just phase through the floor and come up to take a peek every once in a while to see how close we are to the car?"  
  
Rogue gave her left hand to Kitty and her right hand to ~Kitty, the video tapes still in the bag, wrapped around her wrist. "Ok, lets go."  
  
Both Kittys started phasing through the floor. It was an interesting experience for Rogue, the journey through the concrete under the mall. Checking every ten feet, by phasing up through the floor only showing their heads, they finally found themselves in the parking lot. ~Kitty and Kitty stopped phasing after the had made it to their car, and Rogue had to let go of their hands to get the key out of her pocket. Quickly opening and unlocking the rest of the doors, all three girls hopped in and felt relieved to be in the relative safety of the car.  
  
"You think the Professor can mind wipe all those people, so it's like it never happened?" Kitty asked.  
  
"Ah don't think so. All those people have spread out now, unlike that time at the soccer game. Maybe he can fuzzy up some of the peoples memories though, so they don't remember what we look like."  
  
"That would help, if he could get most of them."  
  
"We'll have to ask him."  
  
~Kitty asked in a small voice, "He won't get mad at me, will he?"  
  
Rogue started the car, seeing a group of people exiting the mall. "Why would he be mad at ya?"  
  
"Because it was all my fault."  
  
"Like, there's no way he can blame you for what you did, I would have done it too." said Kitty.  
  
"Don't worry, he won't get angry at ya. If anything, he'll blame us." Rogue said smiling.  
  
"Why would he do that?"  
  
Kitty answered "Because we didn't control the situation very well. Do we, like, have to tell him about being rescued by Pyro?"  
  
"How else are we goin' explain Gambit at the door tomorrow, bringing the other dimension people sucker?" said Rogue.  
  
"The other dimension people sucker?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Call it what ever ya want. Or, ask Forge, I'm sure he can come up with a complicated technological name for it." Rogue said as she swerved around a on coming car in the mall parking lot.   
  
"What are you reading?" Kitty asked ~Kitty, since she had opened the book she had borrowed.  
  
"It's called 'The Princess Bride'. I read it once, ~Kurt recommended it, but I don't remember all of it, so I want to read it again."  
  
"It's a book?" asked Rogue.  
  
"Yes." ~Kitty held up the paper back and showed it to Rogue, who glanced at it out of the corner of her eye.   
  
"There's a movie, but I never knew it really was a book."  
  
"There's a movie? That's great! Do you think we could go get it..." ~Kitty trailed off, remembering their current plight.   
  
"I think the Professor has it." Kitty said.  
  
"Oh, good. After I watch all the Star Wars movies, I can watch that."  
  
Kitty laughed. "I can see it now, 'What did you do in the other dimension, ~Kitty?' 'Oh, I watched movies the whole time.'"  
  
~Kitty smiled. "And caused a mob scene at the mall."  
  
"That wasn't your fault, so don't go blaming yourself." Rogue said.   
  
A small dog made the extremely unwise decision to cross the road. Rogue swerved out of the way slightly, and the dog made it to the other side, unaware of how close it had come to death.  
  
"Drat, missed it." muttered Rogue, trying to show she had not almost had a heart attack when the dog had nearly became road kill.  
  
"Rogue!" said Kitty, thinking she had meant to hit the dog.  
  
"Yes?" said Rogue innocently.  
  
Kitty sighed dramatically.  
  
~Kitty had missed the whole thing because she had been reading Piotr's book.  
  
"Next time, I drive." said Kitty.  
  
"Yeah, right. When pigs fly." was Rogue's response.  
  
Upon arriving back at the mansion, ~Kitty said "I got to tell ~Kurt." and jumped out of the car and ran for the door. Once inside, she looked around. Spotting the dinning room door, she made a dash for it, pushed it open and said "He's not evil!" Then she held up the book, as if it were proof.  
  
Since it was dinner time, the X-Men and Forge had assembled in that room. All looked up at ~Kitty's arrival.   
  
"Who is not evil Kätzchen?" asked ~Kurt.  
  
"Peter! He let me barrow this book, we met them at the mall, Pyro saved us and-"  
  
Rogue, who had followed ~Kitty at a slower rate, broke in "Professor, we have ta tell ya about what happened at the mall."  
  
"Yes, you do, but first, how did you get there?" asked the Professor.  
  
"Umm, in a car."  
  
"Rogue..."  
  
"Oh alright, Ah drove us there."  
  
"I was unaware of you getting your licence."  
  
"Really? Why it must of slipped mah mind..."  
  
The Professor sighed. "We'll talk about this later, Rogue. Now what happened at the mall?"  
  
The three girls seated themselves at the table. ~Kitty began, "I stated a riot by accident-"  
  
~Kurt put down the fork that had been on his way to his mouth. "How did you menage that?"  
  
"Well..." the story came out with Kitty and Rogue jumping in and telling bits of their adventure. At the end of it Forge said, "So Gambit is coming to the Institute tomorrow at four o'clock?"  
  
"Yes." said Kitty.  
  
"How is he planning to get away from Magneto?" Logan asked.  
  
"Ah'm sure he'll think of somethin'." said Rogue.  
  
"Why," asked Ororo, "is he doing this for us?"  
  
Rogue's face started turning red.  
  
~Kitty came to her rescue. "Maybe he just wants you to know his fighting against you guys isn't personal, its just what Magneto forces or pays them to do."  
  
"Maybe," said Scott, "but what if it's a trap?"  
  
"Gawd, Scott, ya think everything is a trap."  
  
"I do not! And it could be, it sounds very suspicious."  
  
"I agree with Scott, it could be a trap. We should keep our eyes open." said Jean.  
  
Evan asked "Who will take the machine when he arrives?"   
  
"Rogue should." said Kitty.  
  
"Why should Ah?"  
  
"Because," Kitty said, as if it were obvious, which it was, "He's doing this for you."  
  
Rogue again started feeling her face burn.  
  
Kitty smiled smugly, having felt she now had her revenge from earlier.  
  
"Then she shouldn't be the one." said Scott, "if he's only doing this to get to Rogue-"  
  
"What do ya mean by that?" Rogue interrupted.  
  
The Professor lifted his hand to stop Scott from answering. "Rogue will be the one to get the door. The rest of you will be waiting behind her, unseen, just in case."  
  
With that agreed, the Professor continued, "I can try to find all the people who saw you at the mall. It will be hard, and I won't be able to wipe all their memories, maybe just fuzz up their remembrance of you."  
  
"Thank you, Professor." said ~Kitty.  
  
"Your welcome. Now let us finish up our supper before it gets cold."  
  
During the meal, the younger X-Men and Forge, ~Kurt and ~Kitty decided to watch 'The Return of the Jedi' after dinner had been cleaned up. Ororo offered to do the dishes, and somehow got Logan to agree to help her. ~Kurt and Scott said they would manage the popcorn, and Jean and ~Kitty would get everyone drinks. Forge, Kurt, Evan, Rogue and Kitty would happily be lazy and waited upon.  
  
After the dishes had been wiped and put in the dishwasher by a grumpy Logan, Scott and ~Kurt searched for popcorn in the pantry, and Jean got glasses out of the cabinet while ~Kitty took everyone's orders.   
  
While the popcorn was popping, Scott asked ~Kurt "What is the Scott in your universe like?"  
  
"A fearless leader." ~Kurt said, smiling.  
  
This was appreciated by Scott but he wanted more. "That's great, but what is he like?"  
  
"Don't take this badly, but he can be brooding. And bossy. And pig headed. But you can count on him, and he's a great friend."   
  
"Oh." said Scott. Then, softer, "How did he take Jean's death?"  
  
~Kurt stopped smiling. "He took it badly at first. Understandable so. He left the X-Men after her funeral. That's vhen ~Kitty joined. But he rejoined, I think he just needed some time off."  
  
Beep, beep, beep. First bag of popcorn done. Scott poured it into a big plastic bowl, and ~Kurt put the second bag in.  
  
~Kitty came in with everyone's orders. Jean had already asked what ~Kurt and Scott wanted, and had started to pour the drinks. Since Scott and ~Kurt were on the other side of the room, Jean whispered a question to ~Kitty. "What was I like in your dimension?"  
  
"I'm not the best person to ask," said ~Kitty, "I hardly knew her, but she were very nice. When I was scared out of my wits, she did a good job of calming me down."  
  
"Why where you scared?" Jean asked.  
  
~Kitty smiled and said "Half because I was being chased by the bad guys, and the other half..." she pointed at ~Kurt, who was talking to Scott. "I had just met some of the members of the X-Men, Ororo, Peter, and Logan, when they were captured. Ororo told me to call a number she had on a piece of paper. I called it, and told the person on the other end (~Kurt) that they had been captured, but was interrupted when the bad guys saw me. The first time I actually met ~Kurt, I had almost been run over by Ms. Frost's (the White Queen) minions, and was lying on the ground exhausted while Jean, as Phoenix, fought them. Then I was picked up by a demon and we were scaling the wall of a building. My mind didn't connect his voice with the one I had talked to on the phone. When we reached the roof of the building I didn't wait for any explanations, I just broke away and dove through the roof."  
  
Her narrative was broken when the bottle of soda exploded, when ~Kitty opened it. "Oops."  
  
"I got it." said Jean, as she used her powers to summon a few sheets of paper towels. ~Kitty continued, "That's when Jean found me, huddled in that old building, trying to hide."   
  
"And that's when you joined?" asked Jean.  
  
"Oh, not just then, but after my parents agreed to it, and all the stuff involved, like transferring schools, and packing, were taken care of. But by the time I got to the mansion, Jean was already dead, and the other X-Men were at her funeral."  
  
Evan poked his head through the doorway, "You guys done with the drinks yet?"  
  
"Yes," said Jean, "And you can come help pass them out."  
  
With the help of Evan, Jean and ~Kitty brought all the drinks into the TV room.   
  
When the third bag of popcorn was done, Scott and ~Kurt brought in the bowls of popcorn, Scott carrying one, ~Kurt carrying the other two, with the help of his tail.  
  
Rogue pushed the tape into the video player.  
  
The Stars Wars theme music started to play, movie quality sound thanks to the Professor's wonderful sound system. ~Kitty read the words scrolling on the screen silently, excitement growing.   
  
When the Ewoks appeared, ~Kitty swore to herself she'd find a stuffed animal of them. They were just to darn cute, like miniature Wookies.   
  
And when it was revealed that Luke and Leia were actually brother and sister, ~Kurt and ~Kitty were shocked.  
  
At the end of the movie ~Kitty said "That was the best movie ever."   
  
"~Kitty, you said that after the other two Star Wars movies." ~Kurt reminded her.  
  
"Well, this is the best." said ~Kitty.  
  
Kurt wondered if she'd still think that if she saw the 'Lord of the Rings' movies.  
  
Everyone agreed to watch 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace' tomorrow night, and Jean and Scott collected all the glasses and popcorn bowls to wash.  
  
Everyone else trooped upstairs to their rooms, and Forge down to the lab to get ready for the arrival of Magneto's machine. When Kitty and Rogue got to their room, and Kitty saw Rogue's book bag, she asked "Did you finish your homework?"  
  
"Maybe, Ah don't remember. Tomorrow is Friday, right?" said Rogue as she searched her closet for her pajamas.  
  
"Yeah, and after school you have to get the 'other dimension people sucker' from Gambit."  
  
"Did ya ask Forge what we should call it?"  
  
"No, I didn't get around to asking. Do you think he will bring it?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Huh?"   
  
"Gambit. Do you think he will really bring it? I mean, what if he can't get it away from Magneto?"  
  
"Then we won't get it, and ~Kurt and ~Kitty will be stuck here forever." Rogue said, always the optimist.   
  
"Unless Forge thinks of another way."  
  
"There is always that." said Rogue, flopping into bed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
If anyone wants to know, 'The Princess Bride' was made into a movie in 1987. I'm currently reading the book, and its funny as anything. I suggest you all read it. Its by William Goldman (not by Morgenstern, don't believe what Goldman tells you, he lies). Now review please!  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	13. Itty Bitty Brotherhood

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men.   
  
Shout out's: Rogue 151- yes, ~Kitty will be wowed by the special affects, but not the plot. But she will remain an avid Star Wars fan. Glad you liked the chapter!  
  
shelly- a sequel? Already!? I'm not even done this one yet! But I love your enthusiasm, and about your other comment, that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about this story. Thank you!! Keep reviewing please! :)  
  
Auramistealia- good luck on your tests!  
  
Nightcrawler03- keep reading!  
  
TallieCat- thank you!  
  
Suzaka- I thought about doing that, but I didn't have anything else to call ~Kurt, and I was calling everyone by their names, not their codenames, so I thought of the ~ thing. Sorry if it's confusing. Yeah, I think I'll do that too, if I ever meet him.  
  
Chapter 13: Itty Bitty Brotherhood   
  
Gambit had been up most of the night trying to figure out a plan of action. How was he going to steal the machine away from Magneto, and get it to the Institute? And why was he doing this in the first place?  
  
Stealing the thing wouldn't be that hard. After all, he was a master thief. Stealing things was second nature to him. Getting it to the X-Men would prove difficult, but he was sure he could pull it off with the help of John and Piotr.   
  
The final question was causing him the most difficulty. He tried to rationalize it, telling himself the real reason he was going this was that he was allying himself with the X-Men in case he had a fallowing out with Magneto, which was a growing possibility, with the way Magneto had been treating the Acolytes lately.  
  
But he had a nagging suspicion he was doing this because he wanted a certain Southern Goth to like him.  
  
John walked in just then, interrupting his musings. "'ello Gambit, wot you want?"  
  
Remy had asked John and Piotr to met him in his room. Magneto was in his office, doing God knows what, and Sabertooth was out skulking. Quicksilver was at the Brotherhood house, pestering Lance, Todd, and Fred, more then likely. Remy wasn't to worried about being spied on.  
  
"Wait until Colossus gets here, den Gambit won't have to say it twice."  
  
Six minutes later Piotr knocked on the door.   
  
"Get in 'ere!" shouted an impatient John.  
  
Piotr opened the door, and closed securely behind him. "Magneto has gone out."  
  
"Tha' a good piece of luck, ain't it?" said John.  
  
"Do either of you know where dat machine is?" asked Remy.  
  
"Nyet."  
  
"Nope. I was a hoping you did mate, since you were the one wanting to impress the Sheila."  
  
Remy glared at John, who smiled impishly, and said "Den we have to look in his office."  
  
"Isn't it locked?" asked Piotr.  
  
"Locks will be no problem." said Remy, pulling out his staff from his trench coat and extending it to its full length. Then he opened a compartment in it. It was filled with various lock picks, including a bobbie pin and a paper clip.  
  
"Wait a minute 'ere. I'm still a lil' foggy on why Colossus and I are helping you."  
  
"Do you have a problem with helpin' de poor lost doubles get home, where dey belong?"  
  
"Well, no, but if Magneto found out...all I'm saying is I don't wanna wake up one noight and have a piece o' iron wrapped around my neck."  
  
"Den we just have to make sure he doesn't find out, now won't we?" then Remy looked at Piotr. "You have any problem wit helpin' dem out?"  
  
"Nyet. I would gladly help the X-Men, as long as there is no way I would be caught."  
  
Remy knew this was no cowardice on Piotr's part. Magneto was blackmailing him, using Piotr's family as leverage. If Magneto found out that he had helped the X-Men, he would kill them.  
  
"Don't worry, you will be de least involved." Remy said, patting Piotr on the shoulder.  
  
"Emm, yoah sure we won't get caught?" John asked.  
  
"If we are, it will be no fault of Gambits." said Remy, pointedly.  
  
John and Remy stood in front of the door that opened into Magneto's office (Piotr was the watch dog, he was at the entrance to the hide out, and he would yell if he saw Magneto returning). Remy took out the paper clip.  
  
"Tha' wot's going to unlock the doah? A paper clip?"  
  
Remy didn't bother to answer John, he just continued fiddling with the clip in the door knob. Magneto's office was only locked by a simple lock that required a key. It was a nice lock, but it wasn't anything Remy couldn't handle. He silently wondered why Magneto hadn't bothered to put something that needed an access code, like the one at the entrance to the lair.  
  
Click. Remy pushed the door in and stepped through. John heisted at the doorway, fearing there was some sort of trap.  
  
Remy turned around to face John, and noticed his reluctance to enter. "You coming in? Or are you just going to stand dere?"  
  
"I think I'll stay roight 'ere, if tha' alright with you."  
  
Remy grabbed his arm and pulled him in. "Now help Gambit look for de machine."  
  
John looked around nervously. Then he saw a filing cabinet. He walked over to it cautiously, and opened it quickly, then jumped back and covered his face with his arms.  
  
He held that pose for a couple seconds then lowed his arms. Looking into the drawer, he saw a folder marked 'Rasputin'. Tucking it under his arm, he continued to rifle through the folders. Sure enough, there was one marked 'Allerdyce' and another one labeled 'LeBleu'.   
  
John asked "Hey, Gambit, yoah last name is 'Lee Blue' roight?"   
  
Remy winced at how he said his last name. "Oui, but its LeBleu, not 'Lee Blue'."  
  
"Whatever. Magneto has files on all o' us."  
  
Remy grabbed his file away from John.  
  
"I wasn't going to read it!" said an offended John.  
  
"Sure." said Gambit as he flipped through some of the pages contained in the file.   
  
"Magneto 'ave something on you, like Colossus?"  
  
"No!" said Remy defensively.  
  
"Okay, okay, no need to get snappy. Do you think we should leave the files 'ere? Because if he finds out there gone, he'll know we were in 'ere."  
  
"Oui, we should leave dem here, but call Colossus."  
  
John put his file back in, showed Remy where Piotr's and his own had been, and left the room. Remy could hear him scream "COLOSSUS! COME 'ERE!" out in the hallway. Then he came back in.   
  
"Now go be de watch dog."  
  
"You know, you could o' told me tha' before I came back in." Then he left the room again, and met Piotr running up the hallway.   
  
"What is it?" asked Piotr.  
  
"I found files on us-" he didn't get to finish, because Piotr ran past him, into the room.  
  
John then continued walking down the hallway towards the entrance, amusing himself by playing with his lighter.  
  
Remy gave Piotr his file, and put his own back in the drawer, where John had shown him where he had taken it out. Then he continued his search for the machine.  
  
Piotr read his file silently, memorizing facts that would come in handy if he ever decided to leave Magneto.  
  
When he was done, Remy put it back in the drawer, and shut it. "De machine isn't in here." he said.  
  
"Where else would it be?"   
  
"Gambit don' know. How many storage rooms are in dis buildin'?"  
  
"A lot." said Piotr.   
  
"Lets check his bedroom."  
  
"How long do you think he's going to be gone?"  
  
"Gambit don' know dat either. Lets just look quickly."  
  
Magneto's room was very neat. The bed was made, the dresser and desk were clear of clutter. Besides one thing. The machine was sitting on the dresser.  
  
"He's going to notice if you take that." said Piotr.  
  
"Gambit have a plan. Tomorrow afternoon, when Magneto has his meeting with Quicksilver, about de Brotherhood, Gambit will go to de Institute. When Magneto is done his meeting, and if he leaves his office, you or John will distract him. While you doin' dat, Gambit is convincin' de X-Men to attack dis place, and steal de machine."  
  
"Won't Magneto be suspicious about how the X-Men knew about it in the first place?"  
  
"De X-Man, Nightcrawler, saw John and Gambit at de mall. If we tell dat to Magneto, he will dink dat Xavier figured it out."  
  
"That's a very risky plan."  
  
"Well, oui, it is, but it will work." said Remy confidently.  
  
Just then they heard "HE'S COMING!" and they rushed out of the room, Piotr closing the door behind him.  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
~Kitty woke up to find someone shaking her.  
  
"What is it?" she said groggily.  
  
"Want to come to school today?" said a cherry voice.  
  
"Huh?" Opening her eyes, she saw Kitty standing there, already dressed for school.   
  
"Do you, like, want to go to school today? Since nothings going to happen until four o'clock, I thought maybe you'd like to come to school with us."  
  
"Umm..." ~Kitty sat up in bed, trying to wake up enough to understand what Kitty was saying to her.  
  
"I already asked the Professor, and your ~Kurt thinks it would be good for you, and, like, won't you be bored all day with nothing to do?"  
  
"School...?"  
  
"Haven't you been listening? Do you want to come to school with us, because, like, won't it be boring and stuff? Make up your mind quick, its almost time to go."  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming." ~Kitty mumbled, slowly pushing the blankets off of her. "What will I ware?"   
  
"This!" said Kitty happily, showing off a pink blouse with bell sleeves, and some blue jeans. "Or this, or this..." More cloths were shown to a befuddled ~Kitty and she finally grabbed a random top and jeans to get Kitty to stop talking.  
  
"I'll barrow this. How much time do I have?"  
  
Kitty produced a pair of shoes, from out of a bag she had by her on the floor. "These should match that outfit. If you hurry, you might be able to get some breakfast before Kurt and Evan eat it all."  
  
~Kitty jumped out of the bed and quickly ran over to the mirror that was over the dresser. Kitty had given her one of her numerous brushes, and ~Kitty quickly went to work to get her wayward hair under control. Kitty left her, after saying to be sure to be down stairs by seven o'clock.  
  
~Kitty was down there by six forty, but still not fully awake. Flopping into a chair at the kitchen table she took a look at her surroundings. Both Kurts were eating like there was no tomorrow, and Evan was fallowing close behind, every five seconds taking a swig of milk. Kitty was eating daintily, and Rogue was eating like a normal person. Ororo asked what ~Kitty wanted to eat.   
  
"Cereal please. Where is Scott and Jean?"  
  
Ororo grabbed a bowl down from the cupboard, and took a box of cereal out of the pantry and placed them in front of ~Kitty.   
  
Rogue said "Jean is probably still brushing her hair, Scott finished eating and went up there ta see if Jean would be ready ta go sometime this year."  
  
~Kitty got up and took the jug of milk out of the refrigerator, and poured a liberal amount in the bowl on top of the cereal. Then she passed it to Evan, who had already drained his first glass.  
  
Kitty said "We're going to have so much fun! I can introduce you to everyone, we can say you're my cousin, and you can meet..."  
  
A list of names came forth, and ~Kitty couldn't help but tune it out. She starting eating her cereal, nodding every once in awhile. She could listen to Forge talk about his newest invention, and understand a considerable amount of it, but this she couldn't take.  
  
Rogue, noticing that ~Kitty's nods where coming at seven second intervals, said "Kitty, your making her go brain dead."  
  
"Huh? Oh, like, I'm sorry, was I going to fast?"  
  
~Kitty was saved from answering by the arrival of the Professor.  
  
"~Kitty, the teachers at Bayville high will think you are shadowing there, because I told them your parents are interested in the school. You won't have to enroll there, since your stay here will not be that long. Just follow Kitty around." Then he added, "Do you want to go to school today? I was under the impression that you would like to."  
  
Kitty looked at her pleadingly, and ~Kitty knew where the Professor had gotten 'the impression.' "Sure, it will be fun." she said, not really meaning it.  
  
"The Brotherhood of Mutants will be there, but you shouldn't have a problem, just stick to the story that you are Kitty's cousin."  
  
"The Brotherhood go to the same school?" ~Kurt asked, a smile starting to form.  
  
"~Kurt." ~Kitty said threateningly.  
  
"Vhat? I wasn't going to laugh again."   
  
The Professor looked confused for a second, then chuckled a little bit, he had just gotten what ~Kurt was thinking about.  
  
Rogue looked at ~Kitty questioningly. ~Kitty explained, "He thinks its funny that the Brotherhood are teenagers."  
  
"Oh. I guess their not in your universe then?"  
  
"Nope. All grown up."  
  
Scott walked into the kitchen. "Everybody ready?"  
  
"Scott, everybody won't be able ta fit inta your car." said Rogue, counting the amount of people going, and knowing Scott's car only fit five people, six if everyone crammed in.  
  
"I'll drive them." said ~Kurt. "I can follow Scott in his car."  
  
"You just want to see the teenage Brotherhood." ~Kitty said.  
  
"Ja. I do." ~Kurt said agreeably.   
  
"Okay, lets get going, or we'll be late." said Scott.  
  
"What about Jean?" asked Kitty.  
  
"She's coming, she's just finishing up with her hair."  
  
Rogue snorted.   
  
When everyone was outside Kurt and ~Kurt turned on their image inducers at the same time, which amused the Kittys.  
  
Evan, Jean (when she finally showed up), Kurt, and Scott got into his car, and both Kittys and Rogue got into the car ~Kurt was borrowing.   
  
"Ya know how ta drive, right? Ah mean, cars may have changed since whenever ya came from." said Rogue.  
  
"They couldn't have changed that much." said ~Kurt as he started the car.  
  
"I hope not." said ~Kitty, imagining them crashing into a tree.  
  
"Have a little faith in me." said ~Kurt as he began driving.  
  
~Kitty made sure he was looking when she clutched her Star of David necklace, closed her eyes tight, and started mumbling.  
  
"Hey, I'm not that bad of a driver." he said, noticing Kitty and Rogue were giving each other worried looks.   
  
"Well, I bet your not as bad as Rogue is." said Kitty. Rogue wacked Kitty's head with her hand, and Kitty said "Oww!"  
  
"Baby." said Rogue.  
  
"Am not! That hurt."  
  
"Umm, vhere did Scott go?" asked ~Kurt.  
  
"Turn left." said Rogue.  
  
They made it to the school, in one piece, and ~Kurt said "So vhere's the itty bitty Brotherhood?".  
  
Kitty and Rogue scanned the crowd of students in front of the school building. "There's Lance." said Rogue, and pointed.  
  
"Avalanche?" asked ~Kurt.  
  
"Yeah. I think he saw us." said Kitty, as Lance waved in their general direction, then went into the school.  
  
"Why did he wave?" asked ~Kitty.  
  
"Umm..." said Kitty.  
  
"Because Kitty and him used ta date, and Ah don't think he knows it's over." said Rogue.  
  
"Like, thanks so much, Rogue." Kitty said sarcastically.   
  
"Anytime." said Rogue, has she opened the door to the car.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hmm, I don't have much to say this time. Usually I'm rather talkative when I end a chapter. Oh well. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, feel free to tell me in a review. Now review please!  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	14. Clueless

Notes: I am sooo sorry I took so long on updating! I really am. I hate it when people do that. I'm mad at myself. *slaps hand, bad roguehobbit! Bad!* But I just couldn't find the time to sit down and type. Ok, that's a lie. I did have some time, but I when I did, I had major writers block. Can you ever forgive me? Please nod your head.   
  
Disclaimer: I am broke. Would I be broke if I owned the X-Men? No. Hey, anyone want to donate to the roguehobbit fund?  
  
Shout out's: StormHeart, you caught up! Yay! Thanks for the praise and encouragement.  
  
Stephanie-Priz- Thanks for reviewing, yes two Kurts! More the merrier!  
  
GeorgiaPeach- you haven't updated your story in awhile! I shouldn't be talking, I guess. Thanks for reviewing, here's more.   
  
Rogue151- glad you liked that. :)  
  
Auramistealia- I'm typing! There will be no secret buttons, don't worry. At least, I haven't planned any.  
  
bant- thanks for reviewing, and there's a slight Toad scene in this chapter.  
  
Suzaka- hope you get better soon! Actually, you probably have already, since you reviewed awhile ago.  
  
sci-fi fan- thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming!   
  
Chapter 14: Clueless   
  
Kitty was practically skipping as she dragged her double-turned-cousin behind her. Rogue was walking very slowly, grudging each step that led her closer and closer to hours of forced education.   
  
Lance met Kitty at her locker. "Hey, Kitty."  
  
"Hi Lance."  
  
Kitty then started rummaging through her locker, not looking at Lance. ~Kitty watched this with an intrigued look on her face.   
  
Lance, not to be ignored, said, "So, who's your friend?"  
  
"Like, how totally rude of me." said Kitty, giggling strenuously, "This is my cousin, umm, Katie, she's staying at the Institute for awhile."  
  
"Katie? Isn't that short for Katherine?" said the oh so intelligent Lance.  
  
"Yeah, it is, but since there's so many nicknames for Katherine, our parents didn't think it would be confusing." ~Kitty said, coming to Kitty's rescue.  
  
"Oh, well, I guess that's cool. Who was that guy that drove you here?" Lance said, addressing Kitty.  
  
"That was...a friend of the Professor's, he's visiting."  
  
~Kitty found it odd that Kitty would be allowed to tell a member of the Brotherhood who was visiting the Institute. That just didn't happen in her universe. Then again, Lance didn't seem evil to her, and Kitty and him had been going out apparently. Maybe he was no longer a threat.  
  
At that moment ~Kitty smelled something foul. Turning around, she saw a slightly green tainted boy trying to get Lance's attention by mouthing something that looked like "Lance and Kitty, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G". His overall appearance suggested a frog to her. *Wild guess here, that would be Toad.*  
  
Lance finally noticed Todd and made a menacing step towards him. Todd let out a high pitched shriek, and hopped away. Kitty took this moment to think of a escape plan. "Lance, I can't talk now. I have to get to class early, so ~Kit- Katie can meet the teacher...umm...bye!"   
  
Kitty then grabbed ~Kitty by the arm and almost ran down the hallway to her first class.  
  
Lance scratched his head, watching them go. He needed to talk to Kitty about why she seemed to be avoiding him. He was sure there was a plausible reason. The real reason never occurred to him.  
  
Kitty thumped down into her seat and let out a sigh of relief. ~Kitty took the seat next to her and said "So what Rogue said is true? He doesn't know you don't like him anymore?"  
  
Kitty frowned. "No, he's clueless. I was hoping if I avoided him, he'd get the picture and break up with me. Unfortunately he's very dense."   
  
~Kitty nodded her head, in what she hoped was an understanding way. She didn't know why Kitty did not just say to Lance outright that it was over. Maybe she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Or start an earthquake.   
  
A boy with red hair sat down besides Kitty. Kitty discarded her frown, and smiled at the boy.   
  
"~Ki- Katie, this is-"  
  
"Arcade. That's what everyone calls me anyway." said the smiling red head.   
  
~Kitty smiled back and said hello, while trying to not give away how weird it was, being civil to one of the X-Men's foes. She had never actually met the Arcade in her dimension, but had heard a lot about how he had several times kidnaped the X-Men and made them play his bizarre games. From the picture she had seen of him, he was short, muscular, and had red hair and always smiled in an insane and chilling way.  
  
~Kitty observed the teenage Arcade. Red hair, thin as a toothpick, goofy smile. The word that came to mind was 'nerd'. Not 'evil, deranged, genius'.   
  
"Arcade, your not in this class, are you?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Whoa. This isn't graphic arts?"  
  
"No, that's the class to the right of this one. You weren't up late, again, last night, working on your new video game, were you?" Kitty asked accusingly.  
  
"Nope." said Arcade, unconvincingly.  
  
"Your not a very good liar. I told you, you need to get more sleep at night! Next time, I won't tell you that your in the wrong class, and you'll be late or miss the one your supposed to be in."  
  
"Aw, you wouldn't do that to me, would you?"  
  
"Like, it would be for your own good. Now get going or you'll be late." said Kitty, as more students filed into the classroom.  
  
Arcade got up from the desk, and smiled sheepishly at both Kittys. He dived into the flow of oncoming students, and made it out the door unscathed.   
  
"He falls asleep during the classes I have with him, so he's not getting the grades he deserves. He's really smart, but spends to much time building video games when he should be sleeping." Kitty explained to ~Kitty.  
  
"Oh. Uh, are you sure that's what he's building? I mean..."  
  
"What else would he be making? Oh, is he in your universe too?"  
  
"Yeah, he's one of the bad guys..."  
  
Kitty started laughing. "Arcade? He doesn't have a bad bone in his body! He's always helping people with their homework, and helping design websites, he even did some work on the school's site. Are you sure?"  
  
"Unless there's more then one guy with the nickname 'Arcade' running around, then that's the guy. He even has the red hair, just not the build. And our Arcade is older."  
  
"Hmm. Maybe he is, but he could be different here. Like I said, Arcade's one of the sweetest guys at this school."  
  
"Okay, just don't be surprised if he suddenly goes bonkers, our Arcade is crazy."  
  
"I'll keep an eye out." said Kitty, still giggling over the idea.  
  
  
  
~*~ x ~*~  
  
The rest of the morning went swiftly, to ~Kitty's surprise. She had even gotten used to people calling her 'Katie'. At lunch, both Kittys met up with the rest of the X-Men, outside at one of the lunch tables.  
  
"Hi ~Kitty, how's it going?" asked Scott.  
  
"Fine. But you better start calling me Katie while we're here, Kitty told everyone that was my name."  
  
"Katie?" Kurt laughed. "You couldn't think of a name that didn't come from Katherine?"  
  
"Hey, I was caught off guard. 'Sides, Katie is a nice name." said Kitty, as she opened her lunch box.  
  
"Have ya talked to Lance yet?" asked Rogue, who just arrived, plopping her lunch down on the table by Scott.  
  
Kitty glared at Rogue, and avoided the question by asking one herself "Don't you usually sit with Risty?"  
  
"She's not here today. What, don't ya want mah company?" asked Rogue, grinning wickedly at Kitty.  
  
"What about Lance?" asked Scott. Both he and Kurt where looking at Kitty.  
  
"Nothing." said Kitty, to quickly.  
  
"In my opinion-" started Scott.  
  
"Yes, Scott," said Jean, patting him on the head. "We know your opinion of Lance."  
  
"We've only heard it, say thirty times." said Evan.  
  
"What about Duncan, why aren't you eating with him and the other jocks, Jean?" asked Kitty, trying to get the conversation off of Lance.  
  
"Duncan is going through one of his ego trips. I need to give him time to get over himself." said Jean.  
  
Scott didn't venture his opinion of Duncan, even though he hated Duncan more then he could ever hate Lance.  
  
~Kitty watched this all silently, as she ate her sandwich. Kitty had pointed Duncan out to her, a tall, well built, blonde football player. ~Kitty had also noticed the arrogant smirk he perpetually wore. *At least Jean recognizes his faults. That is the first step towards recovery. Or is that admitting the problem?*  
  
Lunch went to quickly, as it always does. ~Kitty met Amanda and Risty, who came to school after sixth period, saying she had felt sick that morning.  
  
~Kitty thought Amanda was nice, but a lot shyer then the Amanda in her dimension. She wondered why her Amanda was blonde, while this one had dark coloring and dark hair. Risty was also friendly, but there was something that was odd about her, that ~Kitty couldn't place. And it wasn't the purple hair.   
  
Risty also seemed to be the most curious about ~Kitty, asking more questions then anyone else had. Rogue told her them same story everyone else was getting, that she was Kitty's cousin, and she was visiting her.   
  
By the end of the day, ~Kitty had either met, or had seen all the members of the Brotherhood. She considered the Brotherhood from her universe to be more of a threat, and took some kind of strange pride in it. None of the Brotherhood here struck her as evil, they just seemed to have a mean streak. Fred had a temper, Pietro was obsessed with himself, Wanda was insane, and Lance and Todd (besides his looks) were normal. Since she was comparing the two Brotherhoods, she suddenly wondered why Pyro was an Acolyte, and not a member of the Brotherhood, like in her universe. And where was Mystique?   
  
~Kitty decided to ask ~Kitty these questions later.  
  
When the last bell rang all the students zipped out of their last classrooms faster then the teachers had time to say "Your dismissed." Kitty and ~Kitty were no exception. After all, it was a Friday.   
  
"So, did you have fun?" asked Kitty, as she stuffed books into her book bag, while reaching for more in her locker.  
  
"Yeah, it was interesting." said ~Kitty diplomatically.  
  
"Hey Kitty, want to go to the movies tonight?"   
  
Kitty stopped packing her book bag, and looked up where the question had come from, hoping it wasn't the person she thought it was. It was.  
  
"Umm, Lance, I, uh..."  
  
"Oh you can't leave me!" said ~Kitty latching onto Kitty's arm, playing the clingy cousin. "I hardly ever see you! And I won't be staying for long!"   
  
"Sorry Lance," said Kitty, apologetically. "I haven't seen Katie in a long time, and she won't be visiting long." Kitty silently prayed that Lance wouldn't mind both of them going to the movies.  
  
"Oh. Well, okay, maybe later then?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, maybe."  
  
Rogue walked up to them, and Lance made a hasty retreat. "So, ya set him straight about your relationship? Or lack of one?"  
  
"Shut up Rogue." Kitty growled, trying with remarkable success, to sound menacing.  
  
Rogue backed of a step and put her hands up in surrender, "Alright, but ya know you'll have to tell him someday. Maybe before you marry Kurt."  
  
"Ha ha." said Kitty.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
I searched and searched for what Arcade's real name is. Even in the Evolution series, he doesn't seem to have a real name. At least the sources I looked at said he didn't. Does anyone know, for my own piece of mind? Sorry to all you Lance fans, as you can probably tell, I'm not a big 'Lancitty' fan, though there are some good stories out there with them paired up. Review please! And, once again, I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update!  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	15. Change of Plans

Note: Here I am, apologizing once again about being so late in updating. This time it was not entirely my fault. The computer rejected the mouse. Weird, ja? Then it wouldn't let me us the internet. That lasted maybe two weeks. I know, I could have at least wrote out the story so I would have it ready when the computer did start behaving, but I've been busy, and working without the mouse would have been inconvenient. Yes, I'm a lazy bum, I know.   
  
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything that belongs to Marvel. When I take over the world, then I will claim to own the X-Men.  
  
Shout out's: Rogue 151- I'm more of a Piotr/ Kitty fan also, but if I can't have that Kurt/Kitty is my next favorite couple. Thanks for telling me Rogue's real name!  
  
Auramistealia- glad it was worth the wait. :)  
  
Suzaka- I don't get Vh1 but that would have been interesting...exams, ugg. I feel your pain.  
  
De-Femme-O-Da-Night- JB! Your alive! Glad to have you back, and I'll try to do more "Kurts" stuff.  
  
StormHeart- thank you for contributing to the roguehobbit fund. Unfortunately, you can't buy comics with imaginary money.  
  
Nightcrawler03- Arcade is one unusually person. Weird does apply to him. Kitty with Kurt...hmm, we'll see...  
  
Stephanie-Priz- I have an idea, (bum bum bum) so it might not be a Kurty...I'll see if I can get my idea to work. But it's not going to be a Lancitty. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Georgia Peach- Maybe he doesn't. I couldn't find it anywhere. Here's more story, sorry it took so long.  
  
A.J. Starhiker- the graphic novel I'm taking this from is # 4, is there a five? I've looked for it, but I don't think it's out yet. Yeah, this is after the Brood Saga, and before Kitty goes off with Logan. Thank you for reviewing!  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"When I spy my third eye it's extremely high voltage, that's why I need ruby quartz glasses, cause when I glance there's a chance that I might blast the masses....I walk through walls and inanimate obstacles by educing the reduction of cells and molecules....The telepath delivers verses with no postage..."  
  
-Linkin Park  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 15: Change of Plans  
  
"Pyro, Gambit need you to deliver dis."  
  
John looked up from refueling his flamethrowers. "To who?"  
  
"De X-Men, but if you hurry you won't have to go all de way to de mansion and be missed by Magneto."  
  
"I thought you were going to the mansion at four?"  
  
"Things have changed. Magneto wants us to go with him to his "friends" (meaning the Acolytes had to be there to look intimidating so the poor man would do what Magneto told him)place around dat time. De hideout will be empty. And dis way we have an alibi when de machine is stolen."  
  
"Alroight, wheah are the X-Men now?"  
  
"Le enfants should be comin' home from school soon. If you stop dem on the road, give dem dis, and return as quickly as you can you won't be missed."  
  
John took the papers from Remy. Then he thought of something. "Why can't Colossus go?"  
  
"Because Gambit told you." said Remy, as he left the room.  
  
"Wot does tha' 'ave to do with anything?!" yelled John.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
"Wait, Evan is your nephew?" ~Kitty asked from the back seat of Ororo's car as she and Kitty waited for Rogue to come out of the school. Risty (who had arrived at school after lunch) had flagged her down and Rogue had still been talking to her when Kitty and ~Kitty had left the building.  
  
Ororo had come to the school to pick up the X-Men who wouldn't fit in Scott's car, since ~Kurt was at the Institute, having another discussion about his teammates in his universe with the Professor.   
  
Ororo had been talking about her sister and her brother in law, and for clarification had said they were Evan's parents. "Yes, didn't you know?"  
  
"No, the Ororo in my dimension didn't have any living relatives. Wait, how could you have been a goddess in Africa, and have a sister in New York?"  
  
Ororo did not get a chance to answer that mind boggling question because Rogue jumped into the car at that moment.   
  
"Like, what took you so long?" asked Kitty, turning around to look at Rogue from the front seat. Ororo pulled out of the parking lot, and started back towards the mansion.  
  
"Ah had ta convince Risty that today would not be a good day for her ta come over ta the Institute without givin' her a reason why."  
  
"Was she suspicious?" asked Ororo.  
  
"If she was, she didn't let on. He's coming at four, right?"  
  
Assuming that Rogue meant Gambit, Ororo said "Yes, that is the plan-" she was interrupted as a red headed individual wearing civilian cloths jumped out from behind the foliage that lined the road, and stood waving his arms frantically. Ororo slammed on the brakes, causing everyone to be flung forward in their seats.  
  
John meandered up to the door of the car and knocked on the window. After pushing her long white hair out of her face, Ororo rolled down the window and glared at him.   
  
"'Ere you go," he said, handing Ororo a pile of papers, and pointing to one slip. "tha's from Gambit. Theah's been a little change o' plans. No worriers, though. You should be able to 'andle it."  
  
Having said that, he winked at them all and rushed over to where he had first emerged. Before he made it to the bush, he tripped over a stick. "I'm okay!" he yelled then scrambled into the shrubbery.   
  
"What a strange young man." said Ororo.  
  
Kitty took the piece of paper from Ororo and read it aloud, imitating Gambit's accent. "Dere's been a slight change of plans. Here is de layout of de hideout and location. You will attack de building at five o'clock. Magneto will be occupied. You may have to deal with Sabertooth. Take de machine with you. Don't forget what de Acolytes have done for you. You owe us. Deepest regards, Gambit."  
  
"Humph." said Rogue.  
  
"We have to attack Magneto's lair?" asked ~Kitty, sounding worried.  
  
"Don't worry about it now. Lets go tell the Professor." Ororo said as she started driving again.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
When the rest of the team heard about the new plan, there were conflicting opinions on what should be done.   
  
"It's a trap." said Logan and Scott at the same time. Rogue rolled her eyes, but made no comment.  
  
"It could be, but I do not believe it is. Never the less, we will take steps in case it is a trap," said the Professor, "The X-Men will be split into two groups. One will remain here, in contact with the others. They will be the backup. The rest will go to the hideout, but remain hidden until Magneto leaves. If he does so, then they will attack and retrieve the machine. Is that acceptable to everyone?"  
  
"Who's going?" asked Evan.  
  
"If it is agreeable to ~Kurt and ~Kitty," he gestured at said people, "they will go, since that machine is critical to them." Both ~Kitty and ~Kurt nodded, neither wanted to be kept behind.  
  
The Professor continued, "Logan, Jean, and Kitty will join them. The backup team will be Ororo, Scott, Kurt, Evan, and Rogue. Don't argue with me," he said, as Scott and Kurt opened their mouths, "we do not have much time to get ready. I want the first team there by four o'clock. Kitty, find uniforms for ~Kurt and ~Kitty. Everyone get changed, and met back here, then we will study these blueprints."  
  
Everyone started for the various places the had last seen their uniforms. Kitty led ~Kurt and ~Kitty towards a storage room, where she thought they had some extra uniforms. "Since Kurt is going to be on the second team, two Nightcrawlers won't be a problem. What about our codenames though?" Kitty asked ~Kitty.  
  
"Hmm, two Sprites would be confusing." said ~Kitty.  
  
Kitty looked confused. "Sprite?"  
  
~Kurt asked "That's not your codename then?"  
  
"No, mine is Shadowcat."  
  
"No problem then." said ~Kitty.  
  
  
  
Upon reaching the storage room, Kitty began looking in one of the closets. "Here ~Kitty, this looks like it would be your size." she held up a plain, dark blue uniform with a yellow belt, gloves, and boots. On the shoulders were circular emblems with a red background and a black 'X' on it. (The basic 'New Recruit' uniform) Continuing her search, Kitty pulled out another uniform, held it up and looked at ~Kurt. Seeing how smaller the uniform was in comparison to him, she put it down and pulled out another, with the same result.   
  
"Hmm," she said, after looking at the last uniform. "All the uniforms were made for teenagers. You don't have Mr. Logan's build, I don't think you would fit into anything of his."  
  
"Danke." Kurt said sarcastically, but with a trace of a smile.  
  
"I didn't mean it that way...it's just Mr. Logan is shorter then you and more..."  
  
"Muscular?" supplied ~Kitty helpfully.  
  
~Kurt hit ~Kitty on the head with his tail, that sounded like a whiplash, but stopped it from hitting her to hard.  
  
~Kitty pretended to be in pain, rubbing the top of her head with her hand.  
  
"I guess you could just ware something that wouldn't inhibit your movement, like, lose cloths or something." suggested Kitty.   
  
"Vhat about the sweatshirt and pants I vore for the practice session in the Danger Room?"  
  
"That would work."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
The assault team was outside Magneto's hideout at 4:12. ~Kurt and ~Kitty had double checked that everyone's codename were the same as in their dimension besides Kitty's and Jean's. They didn't get a chance to ask why Jean did not have a codename because Gambit, Pyro, Colossus, and Magneto had just exited the building.  
  
A couple minutes later, Wolverine sniffed the air to verify that they had left the area. Waving them forward he stood up, and slowly walked to the door. Jean followed directly behind him, with Shadowcat, Sprite, and Nightcrawler bringing up the rear. Wolverine stared at the door, remembering what a second note from Gambit, that had been in the pile of papers, had said about how if anyone used force to open the door, an alarm would notify whoever was inside that security had been breached. It would also notify Magneto, via a small beeper like device. Gambit had stolen it off of Magneto's person, so all the X-Men had to worry about was whoever was inside.   
  
SNIKT. Wolverine's claws popped out of his knuckles and he made four swipes at the heavy metal door. After kicking in the damaged area he and the rest of the assembled X-Men could hear an alarm going off.   
  
"Let's go." he said and entered Magneto's lair.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Good citizens of fanfiction.net, I'm sorry to tell you this, but the chapters will not be coming any faster. I have a research paper due December 5th. I hate them with a passion. I loath them with every fiber of my being. I am a procrastinator. I will be very busy up to that day, and most likely will not have a new chapter up until after I hand in that paper. I truly regret that. I would much rather be writing fan fiction then a research paper.  
  
My friend Danielle also has a research paper due. Monday. This coming Monday. In two days. That Monday. She hasn't started on it yet. So, she has asked that all you nice people would pray for her. She doesn't do well under stress, so she's going to need all the help she can get.  
  
Thanks for listening to me gripe, if you read all that. Now do me one last favor, review! Reviews make writing fan fiction worth while as I'm sure you know.  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	16. Attack!

Notes: It's a snow day! My research paper was due today! Waahaha! Take that Mr. Johnson! (He was going to laugh at us because we wanted a snow day because most of us hadn't finished the papers. Mr. Johnson is evil that way. Some would even say he's a sadist. Not me of course.)  
  
Disclaimer: See any characters you recognize? They're not mine. They belong to the very imaginative people who make up Marvel.  
  
Shout out's: googlely bear- Thank you!  
  
De-Femme- what a wonderful review! Thank you, I love nice long ones. Glad you liked the part with Pyro, you're right, he is a goofball. Okay, the Linkin Park song is track 9 on the CD Reanimation, and it's called H! VLTG3. It's a very weird song...  
  
sis- thank you for reviewing!  
  
Nightcrawler03- glad you liked ~Kurt's and ~Kitty's antics. :)  
  
StormHeart- aren't they though? *sigh*.  
  
Rogue151- Poem Anthology? Ugg, those sound horrible. Did you ever update your story?  
  
shelly-you like the plot? Yay! I've been worried that I was losing it.   
  
Auramistealia- is it progressing? Tis good. I'm not very good with plots, they are not my forte.  
  
Chapter 16: Attack!  
  
Ding dong. Scott jumped up from the sofa he had been tensely siting in, waiting to leap to the rescue as the backup team. "I'll get it!" he said, sprinting towards the door.   
  
"Scott, wait-" said Evan, a little to late.  
  
Scott opened the door. Standing on the doorstep was a girl with purple hair, with a backpack slung over one shoulder. For a split second, Scott couldn't remember who she was. Then he remembered, and said "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm here to reclaim the colonies from the usurpers." she said, laying on her British accent as thick as she could. When Scott just stared at her she continued, "What's with the costume?"  
  
Scott be latently realized he was in uniform. "Umm, I...uh..."  
  
"He's getting ready for Halloween." said Kurt, who came up behind Scott. He had turned his image inducer on, and the hologram hid his uniform along with his blue fur.  
  
"Oookaaaay then. Hello Kurt, is Rogue here?" Risty asked, staring over Scott's shoulder to see Kurt.  
  
"Actually, she's out." Scott got behind Kurt, making it easier for Risty to talk to him.  
  
"Oh, well, do you know when she will be back?" Risty persisted.   
  
"Oh, you know Rogue," said Kurt, laughing nervously, "she never tells anyone vhat she's up to."  
  
"Yeah, well, could you ask her to call me when she gets back? I need to know what assignments I missed because I was late."  
  
"I vill. Auf wiedersehen." Kurt started to close the door.   
  
"Thanks, bye." said Risty, as she took one last peak at the uniform clad Scott.  
  
After the door was closed, Kurt leaned against it in relief. "Daß war nah."  
  
"What?" asked Scott.  
  
"That vas close."  
  
"Yes, it was. Thanks for rescuing me."  
  
"Keine Probleme." said Kurt, as he and Scott walked back to the room the rest of the remaining X-Men were in.  
  
"Who was it?" asked Rogue.  
  
"It vas Risty, I told her you veren't here. After the machine is in our hands, you should call her."  
  
"She saw you in your uniform?" asked Ororo.  
  
"Yes, but Kurt convinced her it was just a Halloween costume."  
  
Evan laughed. "Man, I tried to warn you, but you ran off to quickly."  
  
Scott glowered at Evan. Just then the Professor looked up. He was remaining in contact with Jean, via physic link.  
  
"They have breached the building." he said. Then he seemed to go back into his mind, like he was in a coma.  
  
"Do you think they will need us?" asked Evan.  
  
Ororo looked at her nephew, "I hope not. That would mean that something went wrong."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Jean quickly scanned the hallway they were in. She reported, "No immediate life signs."  
  
Wolverine sniffed, trusting his scenes more then anyone else's. "He's here. On the other side of the building. Follow me."  
  
"He who?" whispered Sprite.  
  
"Sabertooth." Shadowcat whispered back.  
  
Jean closed her eyes briefly, then opened them. "I just told the Professor."  
  
Wolverine grunted in response. Suddenly he tensed, and stopped walking. "Someone's coming closer."   
  
Something was odd about the scent. Wolverine couldn't put what was wrong down, and filed it away in his memory for later. Now there was more important things to worry about.  
  
Nightcrawler scanned the hallway. With his ability to see well in the dark, he had the advantage, eye sight wise, over the others since the lights had dimmed considerably when the alarm had gone off. So far, he saw no one.   
  
"I'll distract him," Wolverine said quietly, and turned to look at Nightcrawler, "when I do, can you teleport behind him and try to knock him out?"  
  
Nightcrawler nodded his head. The only way Wolverine could tell he did was because Nightcrawler's yellow eyes bobbed up, then down. The rest of his head and face blended in with the shadows. Wolverine continued "The rest of you be ready-"  
  
He cut himself short and gestured to the others to be still. A form could be made out at the end of the hallway. Everyone plastered themselves against the wall and waited for Sabertooth to come closer.  
  
Sniffing could be heard. Sabertooth was testing the air for any new scent. Whether he detected them or not, he kept walking down the hallway towards the X-Men. Just then another door leading from a room opened and Quicksilver stepped out, looking up at one of the sources of the alarm in confusion.   
  
With lightning speed Wolverine propelled himself off the wall and made a slash at Sabertooth's chest. Sabertooth dodged left, and his foot lashed out and hit Wolverine squarely in the stomach. Wolverine flew backwards into Jean who was behind him.   
  
While Wolverine flew through the air, Nightcrawler teleported above Sabertooth. Materializing for one second, he brought his hands together and clasped his six fingers around each other. He then brought his fists down hard on Sabertooth's head. He teleported away again and reappeared a few feet away, ready to 'port again.  
  
There was no need for Nightcrawler to repeat his attack. Sabertooth crumpled to the floor, and when he started to get up again Shadowcat kicked him in the head with the toe of her heavy plastic blue boot. It made a satisfying THUNK noise, and Sabertooth collapsed onto the floor and stayed there.   
  
While that was going on Jean had grabbed Quicksilver with her telekinesis and was trying to keep him from running away. That's when Wolverine had slammed into her and she had dropped her hold on Quicksilver. But not before Sprite had grabbed his hand and phased both of them ten inches into the floor. He was about to wrench his hand out of her's when she said "Don't try to get away, if I let go of your hand your feet will mesh with the molecules in the floor. It won't be pretty."  
  
Quicksilver stared at what he could see of his legs. He looked back at Sprite and glared. Then he did a double take. "Hey, wait, your not Shadowcat."   
  
"Nope, call me Sprite."   
  
So when Jean and Wolverine got off the floor and Shadowcat and Nightcrawler turned to look at them they saw Sprite and Quicksilver holding hands, and then noticed they seemed to have no lower legs. It made an interesting picture.  
  
Quicksilver glowered at them all and Sprite asked "So, are you guys going to knock him out, or do I have to keep holding his hand?"  
  
"I'll take care of it." said Shadowcat and she snatched his other hand before he could do anything about it. "Let go." she told Sprite.  
  
Sprite let go, wondering what Shadowcat was doing. Then Shadowcat let go of his hand. While his feet were still in the ground.   
  
Sprite's hands flew to her mouth and gasped "Oh my God!" She closed her eyes tight not wanting to see the grisly sight she thought was taking place.  
  
"It's okay Kätzchen. Look." said Nightcralwer.  
  
Sprite opened her eyes and stared at Quicksilver in amazement. He seemed rather put out, but not in any pain at all even though his lower legs were phased into the floor and the rest of him was not phasing.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked Shadowcat.   
  
Shadowcat said "You can't?"   
  
"No, when I let go of someone and they are still inside a solid object they would die from the shock."  
  
"Well, that doesn't happen with me. They're fine when I let go, but they can't get out unless I phase them through."  
  
"That's very interesting and all, but you're not going to get away with this."   
  
Everyone turned to look at Quicksilver who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest looking disgruntled.  
  
"I would keep my trap shut if I were you, bub." said Wolverine, as he leaned in threateningly. Quicksilver wobbled, and couldn't right himself because of his inability to move his feet. He would of fallen backwards, or as backwards as his lower legs would let him, if Shadowcat hadn't of grabbed his arm and pulled him to a standing position.  
  
  
  
Jean closed her eyes and transmitted another message to the Professor. Then she asked "Should we split up to look for the machine?"   
  
"I thought it was in Magneto's room." said Sprite.   
  
"That's what Gambit said. We'll check there first. Shadowcat, take care of Sabertooth." said Wolverine.  
  
Shadowcat walked over to the recumbent body of Sabertooth and knelt down by him. Taking his hand she phased her hand and his into the floor, and left his there. "When he wakes up he's going to have a nasty surprise."  
  
Unnoticed by the X-Men, Sabertooth cracked open one eye and closed it quickly, but not before a flash of yellow could be seen before the eye turned brown again.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
The three Acolytes and Magneto walked in silence towards their destination. Well, not quite in silence. Pyro was humming happily while he played with a tiny flame.   
  
Gambit glanced uneasily at Magneto's back. Something had been bothering him. He had not thought of it until after they had already left the hideout, and he now realized he might have just sealed the X-Men's death warrant.  
  
Usually whenever Magneto left the lair he left more then one person to guard it. It was just something he did, if he could spare two people. The job he wanted them for would have only required Colossus. Magneto combined with an armored Colossus was intimidating enough. Adding himself and a not very intimidating Pyro was just overkill. Magneto could have easily managed if he had left Gambit and Pyro behind on guard duty. So, this job required more manpower then Gambit had thought or....  
  
"Magneto?" asked Gambit.  
  
"Yes?" answered Magneto without turning around.  
  
"Is Sabertooth de only one guarding our base?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?" Was Gambit being paranoid, or did he catch a trace of suspicion in that question?  
  
"No reason. Gambit just curious, dat's all."  
  
Colossus gave Gambit an odd look, wondering what he was getting at. Pyro was oblivious to everything, still entranced by the flame.  
  
"No, Sabertooth is not the only one guarding the base."  
  
"Who is?" asked Colossus, realization finally dawning.  
  
Then Magneto told them who it was.   
  
"Merde." whispered Gambit to himself.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
After the X-Men had gone off in search of the machine, Quicksilver began yelling at the still prostrate body of Sabertooth. "Wake up you imbecile! My father is going to have your hide if you let them steal anything!"  
  
"You should have more respect for your former leader, Pietro."  
  
Quicksilver stared down at the now shape shifting body, mouth agape. "Mystique?"  
  
"In the flesh." she said, as she took on her own blue shape. Because of her shifting, she was able to withdraw her hand from the floor.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Now why should I tell you that?" asked Mystique.  
  
Quicksilver had no answer for that.  
  
"Your father knows I'm here, if your wondering, he thinks I'm trying to get back in his good graces." she laughed.  
  
"Where is Sabertooth?"  
  
"Good old Victor has probably attacked the X-Men by now. Thanks to me, they won't be expecting another attack."  
  
"How long were you awake?"  
  
"Before Shadowcat phased my hand into the ground. That other dimension Nightcrawler can hit hard. And Shadowcat didn't help matters." she rubbed the tender spot on the top of her head. A large bump was forming.  
  
"Wait, what? Other dimension Nightcrawler?" Quicksilver sputtered.   
  
"Oh, I guess Magneto didn't think you needed to know. Underlings are not confided in often. And who am I to undermine the authority of Magneto?" she asked sarcastically as she walked away.  
  
"Wait! Come back! You can't leave me here!"  
  
Apparently she could.   
  
~~~~~~  
  
Translations (German and French): Auf wiedersehen: Until I see you again.  
  
Daß war nah: a lose translation of "that was close".  
  
Keine Probleme: No problem.  
  
Merde: Shit.  
  
I think I should be proud of myself. Not only did I update a day before I said I would, I wrote down my first fighting scene rather successfully, I hope. What did you guys think? Who liked the Kitty and ~Kitty comparison with their powers? How did I write Mystique? Good? Badly? Out of character? Give me feedback people!  
  
WANTED: A beta reader. I need one badly. If you would like to do this for me tell me in a review and leave your e-mail address. Thank you.   
  
"I'm here to reclaim the colonies from the usurpers." , I am sorry to say, was not my idea. It came from a "Murder She Wrote" episode. I found it funny, and thought it was something Risty would say.  
  
Guess what? roguehobbit is branching out! I have started an InuYasha fan fiction, but I don't know if I will post it or not. I'm not that confident in my InuYasha writing skills yet. We shall see. So keep an eye out for it, if you like InuYasha (who couldn't? lol).  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	17. Waiting

Notes: The only excuse I have for this chapter taking so long is one common to many people. Writers block. But apparently the writers block fairy has moved on to torment some other hapless fan fiction writer, leaving me in a burst of creative genius. Yeah, right. I wish. But I did get this typed up, so I must be content with my current state of less then creative genius. *Sigh*  
  
Disclaimer: To spice things up a bit, I'm going to let my cat do the disclaimer.  
  
TANDY: "Meow."  
  
Translation: "roguehobbit does not own anything to do with the X-Men. She would claim she did, if she wanted to be sued. roguehobbit does not wish to be sued. Marvel owns the X-Men and quite a lot of other things roguehobbit wished she owned."  
  
Shout outs: Rogue151- you think I did Mystique okay? Thanks, I was worried about it. A 100%? You lucky duck. Yeah, I've heard that Risty looks a lot like Psylocke, and was made to look like her, but I've never actually seen Betsy to compare. But the fact that they both of purple hair seems to point to that conclusion.  
  
  
  
StormHeart- glad you liked the Kittys stuff. Sorry this chapter took so long. Forgive me?  
  
Nightcrawler03- you weren't expecting it? Good, I was going for a shocker.  
  
ArtemisMoonshine- glad you love it. :)   
  
TallieCat- thank you for the praise! Yay! Another person thought I did Mystique okay. And you liked the fight scene? Thank you!  
  
Sue Penkivech- nope, you had never reviewed before. But, I'm certainly glad you did this time. Hehe, I love writing Risty. It saddens me that she's Mystique. And as to what happens next, you shall see! :)  
  
Kakegods- glad you like. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
And a special shout out goes to the lovely ArtemisMoonshine and Nightcrawler03 for being my beta readers! Thanks so much!  
  
Chapter 17: Waiting  
  
There was silence at the mansion. The remaining X-Men had given up all pretense of small talk, and were waiting in a tense silence for any word from Jean.  
  
Evan was staring into space, blinking every once in awhile.  
  
Kurt was swinging his tail in front of his face, the spade acting as a pendulum.  
  
Ororo had her eyes closed and a soft rain could be heard coming from outside. She was using this time to water the garden.  
  
Scott was tapping his foot impatiently and occasionally sighing.   
  
Rogue was developing a tick in her left eye. She finally snapped. "Scott, if ya don't stop it Ah'm a gonna rip your foot off."  
  
Evan laughed, and Scott turned to look at her. He had not heard her. "What?"  
  
"Meine Schwester just threatened one of your appendages." Kurt informed him, muttering under his breath, "Und sie würde es auch tun."  
  
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Which appendage?"  
  
Rogue buried her face in her arms.  
  
Evan gurgled with contained laughter, and said "Your foot man, just your foot."  
  
Ororo opened her eyes and looked around the room. Kurt and Evan were trying not to laugh, Scott looked confused, and Rogue looked like she was wishing she could be anywhere but there. The Professor was still sitting with his hands to his temples and his eyes shut.   
  
"I missed something, didn't I?"  
  
"Nothing Auntie O, nothing." said Evan, finally calming himself.  
  
"Why would she threaten my foot?" asked a still confused Scott.  
  
"Never mind." said Rogue, lifting her head to look at Xavier. "Don't ya think we would have received some word by now?"  
  
Ororo did not answer, but turned to look at the Professor, as if willing him to open his eyes and tell them something encouraging.   
  
Forge walked into the room. He had been told about tonight's plans, and had stopped tinkering with his own prototype of a dimension switcher. It was a good thing they could get the real machine, because Forge was not overly confident that his would work.   
  
He observed the groups melancholy air. Plopping down next to Rogue on the sofa, he said "So, who died and when is the funeral?"  
  
When no one answered him, he said "Come on, guys, lighten up. Its not like they're in any real danger."  
  
Scott turned to look at him, looking like he wished he could blast the 70's child into oblivion. "Look, you hippie, Jean and the others do happen to be in real danger! What if Magneto comes back early!? What if the whole thing was a trap set up by Magneto? What if-"   
  
"First off, I'm no hippie. Second, don't dwell on the "what ifs", man. Life is to short-"  
  
"Forge." said Ororo, realizing that his ranting could become a long speech.  
  
"Sorry. But you guys really need to ease up in the stress department."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Gambit was thinking furiously. How was he going to warn the X-Men?   
  
*It might already be to late.*  
  
That thought entered his head unbidden. Shaking it off, he looked up at the house before him. The house, to use the term loosely, was an old, small, falling apart wreak. Magneto had gone inside along with Colossus. Gambit and Pyro had been left outside on guard duty.  
  
Pyro was still humming to some tune inside his head and playing with one of his flame throwers. Gambit looked at him.  
  
"Oh, Pyro."  
  
The pyromaniac stopped humming, and glanced over at Gambit questioningly.  
  
"Gambit has another job for you."  
  
Pyro sighed dramatically. "I thoaght I was working fer Magneto, but lately I been doing all kinds o' jobs fer you."   
  
"Someone needs to warn de X-Men about Mystique."  
  
"Err, what 'bout Mystique?"  
  
"Were you listenin' at all?" Gambit asked in exasperation.  
  
"No. Should I 'ave been?"  
  
"Oui. You must go tell de X-Men at dare mansion dat Mystique is also guarding de base."  
  
"Why must I do it all the time?" whined Pyro.  
  
"Colossus is unavailable at de moment. Hurry, go, Gambit will make up an excuse for your absence."  
  
"Why don't you go?" Pyro said stubbornly.  
  
"Because your absence will be easier explained then Gambit's. Also, Gambit can lie better den you."  
  
"Tha' not somethin' to be proud of, mate."  
  
"Will you go already?!"  
  
"Alroight, alroight all ready. I'm a going." Pyro turned off the flamethrower, and ran down the alleyway.  
  
Gambit began to think of something to tell Magneto.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
The assault team was slowly approaching Magneto's room.  
  
"Why are we being so careful? Sabertooth and Quicksilver are out of the picture, there's no one left to look out for." said Shadowcat.  
  
Wolverine answered her, but did not look at her. He kept his eyes ahead of them, searching the shadows. "It never hurts to be cautious, Half Pint."  
  
Nightcrawler was slightly ahead of the others, scanning the area with his yellow eyes. Sprite was in the rear, with Jean, Shadowcat, and Wolverine in front of her.  
  
Jean was staying in touch with the Professor and Wolverine was put somewhat at ease since the only two guards were taken care of. Neither of them sensed the form that was stalking them.  
  
Then Sprite screamed.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Scott had resumed taping his foot. Rogue's tick had returned. Forge had gone back to the lab, deciding to get some work done on one of his numerous inventions.  
  
Evan had fallen into a light sleep, and Kurt would soon be following his lead. Then the door bell rang.  
  
"I'll get it!" said Rogue, jumping out of her seat.  
  
"No Rogue. It might be Risty again, and you're in uniform." said Ororo. "Kurt, go answer the door."  
  
Kurt sat up, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Standing up, he turned on his image inducer again and headed for the door.  
  
The ringing of the bell had been going on, and now it was just one long ring, like someone was pressing his finger down on the button and not releasing it.  
  
Kurt opened the door. There stood Pyro smiling like the maniac he was, and still holding down the door bell with a gloved finger.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Translations: meine Schwester- my sister  
  
und sie würde es auch tun- and she'd do it too  
  
Wahahaha! Cliff hanger! Sorry people, that just seemed a good place to stop. Also, I know it's rather short compared to my most recent chapters, but I figured I should get this up since I have not posted in awhile. If anyone is interested there are now two chapters up on my InuYasha fic. *Sigh* I think I'm better at writing X-Men fics then InuYasha ones though. Oh well.   
  
I might post again before Christmas, key word there is "might". But I will work on the story more during that time. And do my homework some evil teachers assigned me over the break. Grr. Mean teachers.   
  
Anywho, I hope you all have a wonderful joyous holiday! Merry Christmas!   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	18. Es gibt etwas falsch

Random A/N: I finished my midterms Thursday! Wahaha! They're over! Thank God Almighty! Now I can get on with important stuff, like writing fan fiction.  
  
Disclaimer: If my name was Marvel, I would own the X-Men. I do not own the X-Men, therefore my name is not Marvel.  
  
Shout outs: Suzaka- fanfiction.net loves being weird, and eccentric. It does this to annoy me, I'm sure. But I love it anyway. Glad you like the story.  
  
capslocke- yeah, I knew that, but thanks.  
  
amanda- your review is so nice! Thank you! And you love all my stories?! *throws cookies and cinnamon buns at you* You are to nice. Wow, you actually went to my site? I'm in shock. I'll recover eventually. Glad you liked chapter 17 so much, hope you like this one too! I'm looking forward to your reviews. :)  
  
Auramistealia- sorry about that, I forgot. Oops. Well, I hope you like this chapter, and I'm sorry I took so long.  
  
StormHeart- Not a lot of Pyro in this chapter, sorry. But there is some. Yeah, I too have an affinity for his state of mind....   
  
queen_am_I- short? I guess you mean the first chapter, right? Yeah, the first couple chapters are pretty short. A seven out of ten? Does that include the entire story, or just the first chapter?   
  
De-Femme- your reviews are always so enthusiastic. :). I love 'em. Yes, school is stupid and time consuming. Arg. Dumb school. Who needs it? Well, some people do, I guess...Sorry you had to wait to find out what happens!  
  
And thanks go out to my beta readers, Nightcrawler03 and KittKatt001!  
  
Chapter 18: Es gibt etwas falsch  
  
The assault team whirled around to face Sprite, who had stopped screaming. That was because four sharp claws were pricking her neck.   
  
Sabertooth stood facing them, his one arm pinning the small girl to him, his other hand resting on her neck, four of his fingers poised to rip into her throat.  
  
"Don't anyone even think of moving, or the girl gets it." Sabertooth growled.  
  
"Gets what?" said Sprite, now five feet away from him.   
  
Sabertooth stared dumbly at where she had been for a second, but that's all it took for Wolverine to spring.  
  
"Need any help?" asked Nightcrawler, watching the small battle.  
  
"Doin' fine, thanks." said the Canadian as he ducked one of Sabertooth's swipes at his head.  
  
Nightcrawler teleported over to where Sprite was standing, rubbing her throat. Four tiny red marks now adorned her neck.  
  
"You alright Kätzchen? Did he hurt you?"  
  
"Nah, but I should have phased faster. He took me by surprise is all. People keep forgetting that I can phase."  
  
"Ja, you vould think Magneto vould have informed his lackeys about our powers."  
  
While Sabertooth and Wolverine were fighting, Jean and Shadowcat, on the other side of the skirmish, were discussing how Sabertooth could have gotten loose.  
  
"Are you sure you phased his arm into the ground?" Jean asked.  
  
Shadowcat folded her arms across her chest. "Yes I'm, like, sure. There is no way I imagined it!"  
  
"Okay, okay, no need to get snippy. How do you think he got out?" asked Jean, trying to placate the miffed brunette.   
  
"I have no idea. Unless, Magneto has invented something that can, like, phase people."  
  
"I doubt that. Maybe he is strong enough to pull out his arm, along with chunks of cement, and then he whacked them off against the wall or something."   
  
"If he's that strong, how come Mr. Logan is kicking his butt right now?"  
  
"Shadowcat, use the codenames."  
  
Shadowcat rolled her eyes. "Whatever."  
  
"I'm going to tell the Professor what is going on, hold on," with that, Jean closed her eyes.  
  
There was a slight muffled sound, a small squeak of surprise, that was almost lost in the sounds of Sabertooth and Wolverine fighting. Almost.  
  
"Kitty?" Jean asked, forgetting to use the codenames. She looked around her.  
  
"What?" asked Shadowcat coming up from behind her.  
  
"Did you hear something?" Jean asked, still looking about for the source of the noise.  
  
"No." said Shadowcat as she brought her combined fists down on Jean's head.  
  
After dragging Jean's limp body into a nearby doorway, Shadowcat waved to Nightcrawler and Sprite to come through the battling rivals.  
  
Nightcrawler took Sprite's hand and 'ported over to her. Now all three of them were in front of Sabertooth and Wolverine.  
  
"Jean's gone ahead to look for the machine." Shadowcat explained before they could ask.  
  
"We weren't supposed to separate." said Sprite.  
  
"I know, but you know Jean, got to have everything her way."  
  
Sprite just nodded, having not known Jean that long.   
  
Nightcrawler eyed Shadowcat curiously. Something was decidedly odd. From what he knew of this universe's Jean he didn't think she would be stupid enough to just go off by herself in enemy territory. And why hadn't Shadowcat stopped her?  
  
"Lets go look for the machine while Wolverine takes care of Sabertooth. It will save time," said Shadowcat persuasively.  
  
  
  
"What if he needs help?" asked Sprite, turning to look at them as Sabertooth was slammed against the wall, and then leaped back at Wolverine.   
  
Nightcrawler had an idea. "Sprite, you stay here and see if Wolverine needs any help," Sprite looked up at him, wondering how she would help. "I'll go vith Shadowcat to find the machine."  
  
The he said "Etwas ist falsch."  
  
"Huh?" said Sprite.  
  
"Why would you say that?" asked Shadowcat.  
  
"Just a feeling, nerves I guess." he said quickly. "Lets go."  
  
Shadowcat started walking down the hallway. Nightcrawler gave Sprite a warning look.   
  
Sprite, confused, asked with her facial expression what was the matter.  
  
Nightcrawler shook his head and quickly followed after Shadowcat into the unlit hallway, and was soon lost to view to a very perplexed Sprite.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Kurt stared at Pyro incredulously. Mimicking Scott, from only a hour ago, he said "Vhat are you doing here?"   
  
Pyro removed his finger from the doorbell button. "I'm 'ere with veeery important news fer the X-Men. Are you their butler?"  
  
"Butler? Vhat are you talking about?"  
  
"Well, you see mate, I do not recognize you...Oy, wait, yoa'h the furry one, roight?"  
  
Kurt sighed. "Ja, I am 'the furry one'. Vhat is it that you have to tell us?"  
  
Pyro looked pointedly at his surroundings. "If you let me through the doah I will tell you."  
  
Kurt heard some commotion coming from the room where the X-Men were assembled. "Then by all means, come in."  
  
Pyro sauntered into the mansion looking smug. He stared around him, like he was on a tour. Kurt, behind him, grabbed his shoulders and propelled him towards where he could hear people talking in agitated voices. "If it's that important ve don't have time for a guided tour."  
  
Suddenly, Scott, Evan, Ororo, and Rogue were running past him, Evan calling "Come on Kurt, something has gone wrong with the assault team."  
  
Kurt grabbed Rogue as she passed him. "Something? Vhat vent vrong?"  
  
Pyro grinned at Rogue. She asked "What is he doing here?"  
  
"He said he has very important information for us."  
  
Rogue turned her eyes on Pyro and crossed her arms over her chest. "Spill."  
  
Noticing the look in her eyes, Pyro didn't quibble over the message like he had planned to do. "Sabertooth ain't the only one guarding the hideout. Mystique is theah also."  
  
Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Is that all?"  
  
"Err...yes."  
  
Rogue grabbed the front of Pyro's uniform and pulled him after her as she headed for the door. Over her shoulder she said, "The Professor lost contact with Jean. Also, when he tried ta get ta Kitty, he found nothing. Meaning Jean and Kitty are either unconscious or..."  
  
She didn't finish her sentence and continued dragging a protesting Pyro towards the door.  
  
Kurt closed his eyes and thought ***Professor!***  
  
***Kurt, why are you not with the others?***  
  
Kurt didn't think he had time to explain that. ***Professor, Mystique is also at Magneto's hideout.***  
  
***Oh, dear. That would explain why I can't contact Jean or Kitty.***  
  
***What about the others?***  
  
***I tried to contact Logan, but when I did I sensed he was very busy, and distracting him might prove fatal. I was trying to reach ~Kurt when you called out to me. Hurry and catch up with the others, later I will ask how you come upon this new information.***  
  
The telepathic link broke, and Kurt ran to the front door. Rogue had just pushed Pyro out onto the manicured lawn.  
  
"Is tha' anyway to treat someone tha' is trying to 'elp? Do I get at least a 'thank you'?" Pyro yelled as he straightened his orange uniform.  
  
"Danke schön." Kurt called out as Rogue closed the door. Kurt then took Rogue's hand and teleported to the underground hanger, where a smaller version of the jet was being prepared to take flight.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
As Shadowcat led the way towards Magneto's room, Nightcrawler was contacted by the Professor.  
  
***~Kurt, Mystique is somewhere in the building with you and I have lost contact with Kitty and Jean.***  
  
***I know where Mystique is. I'll take care of it, don't worry.***  
  
***Be careful. I will contact ~Kitty and warn her also.***  
  
After the Professor broke the link, Nightcrawler began to wonder how he should 'take care of it.' Should he knock her out now, or wait to find out what she was up to? And what had she done with the real Shadowcat and Jean?  
  
As Nightcrawler pondered these thoughts, the fake Shadowcat spoke. "Do you have the same enemies in your dimension?"  
  
"From vhat I have seen of this universe, ja."  
  
"So you have a Magneto, a Sabertooth....anyone else?" Shadowcat kept walking, not looking behind her as she spoke.  
  
"Arcade, the Hellfire Club, the Brotherhood, Mastermind, your run of the mill madmen, oh the Sentinels of course...and Mystique, but I think you know enough about her."  
  
Shadowcat turned her head to look at him, a wry grin on her face.   
  
"Curiosity satisfied, Shadowcat?" He asked sweetly.  
  
"Not quite." She said, turning all the way around, looking like she was about to rush him.  
  
Nightcrawler teleported and reappeared right in front of her, his legs jutting out for a mid air kick. The shape shifter crashed into the wall, and before she had a chance to pick herself off of it, he had 'ported again. His one hand grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the wall, while his other hand grabbed her throat and shoved it also against the wall.  
  
"Vhy don't you just phase?" he asked glibly, as he watched her expression of surprise at finding herself squashed against the wall.  
  
"You're faster then my Nightcrawler. Must be because you're older, and had more training." She was still in Shadowcat's form.  
  
"Could be," he said agreeably.  
  
Mystique's eyes darted about, trying to figure out how to escape without getting herself strangled. "How did you figure me out?"  
  
"Being in league vith a telepath has its perks, but the first clue vas that you understood my German. Kitty doesn't understand very much. The second clue vas you didn't say 'like' a manifold amount of times."  
  
"I'll remember that next time." Mystique shifted into her own form, causing Nightcrawler to lose his grip on her wrists.   
  
Mystique morphed into Sabertooth, and swung her fist at Nightcrawler's head. The meaty fist barely missed his nose as Nightcrawler "bamfed" away, leaving Mystique in a sulfur and brimstone smelling cloud of purplish color.  
  
Mystique waved her hand rapidly around, trying to make the smoke dissipate so she could see. She changed into Shadowcat's form again, and when Nightcralwer's fist came shooting into the cloud it went over her new forms head, since Shadowcat was considerably shorter then Sabertooth was.  
  
Because he had expected to hit her head, not just empty air, Nightcrawler was off balance. Mystique took advantage of this and quickly kicked out and tripped him. As he fell, he 'ported away from her, but he fell down hard where he reappeared.  
  
The smoke left behind once again stifled Mystique, and she coughed, her eyes burning as she searched for where Nightcrawler was. Catching sight of him, she transformed into Wolverine and popped out her new claws.  
  
Nightcrawler had the breath knocked out of him, but was able to teleport again as he saw Mystique rush towards him, the claws ready to slice him open.  
  
When he reappeared next, he was some distance away. He was starting to feel slightly nauseated and tired, since he kept teleporting. The distance from Mystique was a delaying tactic, so by the time she reached him, he hoped, he would be ready.  
  
But Mystique did something totally unexpected. She saw where he was, and spun around and dashed down the hallway in the opposite direction.   
  
Nightcrawler quickly weighed the pros and cons of wether or not to follow her. If he did catch up to her, there would be more teleporting involved. Not good. But if he didn't follow her, she would get away and probably cause more trouble. Also, Jean and Kitty where missing, and Mystique was the only one who knew where they were.  
  
This made the decision for him as he dropped to all fours and ran down the hallway after her, going at a speed far faster then most people can run on two legs.  
  
He sped around a sharp corner and almost collided with Sprite and Wolverine who were staring behind them after the retreating figure of, who they thought was, Nightcrawler.  
  
Wolverine nearly skewered Nightcrawler with his claws, since he generally didn't like people ramming into him. But he was able to identify Nightcrawler, before his right hand claws made four new breathing holes in his neck.  
  
  
  
"I'm guessing that was Mystique then?" asked Sprite, staring after the no longer visible shape shifter.   
  
"Ja," said Nightcrawler as he slowly stood up, staring at Wolverine's claws, that were still uncomfortable close. "Did the Professor tell you about her?"  
  
"Yeah, do you know why she is here?"  
  
"I unfortunately did not get to ask that question Kätzchen."  
  
Wolverine drew his claws back in. "She's probably just guarding this place, like Sabertooth was." He did not sound so certain though.  
  
"Have you located Jean and Shadowcat?" Nightcrawler asked.  
  
"No, we thought it was best to find you and Mystique first."   
  
"Lets go back to where Sabertooth, the real Sabertooth, attacked. That's when they disappeared, so they should be around that area." Wolverine said, leading the way back down the hallway.  
  
"What about the machine? I don't mean to sound callous or anything, but we're closer to it, then we are to Jean and ~Kitty." Sprite pointed out, wanting to get this mission over with before any more unpleasant surprises showed up.  
  
Suddenly the Professor was inside there heads. ***Are you all alright?***  
  
***Yeah, Chuck, we're fine, but Jean and Shadowcat are missing*** Wolverine sent back.  
  
***The backup team has found them. They are alright, just unconscious. The plane is right outside the entrance way. Have you found the machine yet?***  
  
***We're almost there***  
  
***Hurry and get it. Magneto might be back at any moment***  
  
***Right***  
  
"Okay, lets go get that machine."   
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Kitty woke up strapped into a seat. Her head jerked up and she glanced frantically around her before she saw Kurt seated by her. Then she relaxed.  
  
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, resting her head back on the head rest of the seat.  
  
Kurt smiled at her. "Danke Gott," he said sincerely, "You're awake."   
  
"Yeah, are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?"  
  
"Vhat do you remember?"  
  
Kitty closed her eyes. "I was talking to Jean, and then I was whacked on the head. Then nothing."  
  
"The Professor thinks that Mystique must have knocked you and Jean out." Kurt motioned with his tri-fingered hand to where Jean sat, also strapped into the seat, so she wouldn't fall out. Scott was sitting by her, waiting for her to come to. The Professor was also by Jean, but he looked like he was talking to someone via mind link. Kitty didn't see Ororo, Evan, or Rogue anywhere.  
  
"Mystique? She was there?"  
  
"Ja, Pyro came to the mansion to varn us, Gambit hadn't known she vas going to be there."  
  
"What about Mr. Logan? And ~Kurt and ~Kitty?"  
  
"They're fine, they are getting the machine now." The Professor said, opening his eyes. Suddenly his head swung around so that he was facing the front of the plane. Kitty couldn't see anyone approaching through the window shield, but she knew that didn't mean someone was not coming.  
  
Scott noticed the abrupt change in his mentor also. "What's wrong Professor?"  
  
"Magneto is back."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Sprite stood in front of Magneto's room.  
  
"Vant to do the honors?" Nightcrawler asked Sprite, bowing slightly.  
  
"Oh no, after you," answered Sprite.  
  
With a flourish Nightcrawler turned the handle and pushed open the door.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Translations: Es gibt etwas falsch- basicly, "Something is wrong" or "there is something wrong" It can't be translated word for word.  
  
danke Gott- "Thank God". I think you could figure that one out for yourself, but you never know.   
  
Eight pages! Huzzah! That was my longest chapter ever. We're near the end now! I'm hoping a can wrap this story up in two (very long) chapters, but we shall see. But because of how long I want them to be, it will take awhile for me to write them. That, and I still don't know exactly how I'm going to end this story. I'm also horrible at updating, as I'm sure you have noticed.  
  
I hope this chapter turned out coherent, because I wrote most of it at 12:00-1:00 in the morning. But I seem to get ideas to write mostly when I should be asleep, or studying. This is very inconvenient. Oh well, at least I get some refuge from writers block   
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	19. Beyond Repair

Disclaimer: I've gotten into anime recently, mostly stuff that was a manga first. Fruits Basket is so funny...Hatsuharu is one of my favorite characters, along with Hatori (though he's not very funny by himself, it's his reactions to his friends that crack me up) and Shigure, they make me laugh so much. Then Tech TV, bless them, showed "Last Exile" and I now have volume two "Positional Play"! But now I'm saving to buy the third DVD (when it comes out)...so don't sue me, 'cause I need that money.   
  
Shout outs: amanda- glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much! Have some cupcakes! *showers pastries*  
  
Nightcrawler03- thank you!  
  
De-Femme- lol, you liked those scenes? I was so worried about how they would turn out...  
  
Auramistealia - I'm sorry this took so long! I bet I do have many irate reviewers...  
  
StormHeart- thank you, and you should update your story! Yes, you should!!!  
  
bamfling - glad you like, thanks for reviewing both stories ^-^  
  
FrodoGirl- lol, hope you enjoyed it! Wow, someone printed out my story...With all its spelling mistakes...Well, thanks for reviewing!  
  
Everyone clap for my beta readers! Take a bow Nightcrawler03 and KittKatt001! Without you two I'm beginning to realize my writing looks like it was composed by a six year old...a six year old with a very extensive vocabulary, but nevertheless...  
  
Chapter 19: Beyond Repair  
  
"Crap," said Cyclops after hearing the Professor's answer.  
  
"Professor, what are we going to do?" asked Shadowcat, as she sat up in the chair and unbuckled the seatbelt.  
  
The Professor closed his eyes, contacting someone. Then he wheeled himself to the lowered gangplank of the plane. "Stay inside."   
  
Cyclops was going to argue but Jean woke up at that moment, so he was distracted.  
  
Nightcrawler and Shadowcat stared out the window shield at the Professor, who was joined by Storm. Evan and Rogue came into view and Storm told them to get in the plane.  
  
Even from inside the plane Shadowcat could see Rogue's mouth set in a stubborn frown. Spyke started arguing with his aunt, until the Professor turned his head and spoke.  
  
Rogue and Spyke reluctantly started towards the entrance to the plane. But they didn't walk very fast, so when Magneto arrived they were still outside.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
The door swung open and the three X-Men stared inside.  
  
Nightcrawler slowly entered the room with Sprite following and Wolverine bringing up the rear. Sprite felt along the wall and found a light switch. She flicked the switch up, and the room was filled with a dull, harsh light.  
  
The room was very Spartan, only a bed, a desk and chair, and a dresser as furniture. There was a door on the far side of the room that was most likely a closet.  
  
The dresser was by the bed and a couple books lay carefully stacked on the surface.  
  
"Not quite vhat you expected, is it?" Nightcrawler whispered to Sprite.  
  
She whispered back "No, not at all. I don't know what I expected though. Something more bad-guy-ish, I guess."   
  
"Why are you whisperin'?" whispered Wolverine.  
  
"I don't know." Sprite said, a little louder. She wandered over to the dresser staring at the books.  
  
Nightcrawler continued looking around the room. "I never really vondered vhat Magneto did in his off hours."  
  
"I never thought he had off hours."  
  
Wolverine opened all the drawers on the dresser and searched them thoroughly. After completing that he stared thoughtfully at the dresser top. "The machine was supposed to be there."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"That's what Gumbo said." Wolverine headed purposely for the closet, and flung open the door.  
  
"Gumbo?" asked Nightcrawler. Sprite mouthed "Gambit".  
  
"No bats?" asked Sprite, looking over Wolverine's shoulder into the closet.  
  
"Bats?" he asked, looking back at her with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"It's one of the bad-guy-like things I half imagined would be in here."  
  
"No bats. Just some clothes. So far, anyway." Wolverine walked into the closet. There was no light source inside, so the very back was in shadow.  
  
Sprite got down on her knees and looked under the bed. A few dust bunnies were there, but otherwise the floor was bare.  
  
"Nightcrawler, get in here." Wolverine called from the back of the closet.  
  
Nightcrawler found Wolverine staring into the darkness. "I can't see nothin', and I didn't feel anythin', but I wanted to be sure. What do you see?"  
  
Nightcrawler surveyed the area. "Nothing."  
  
Both men exited the closet and found Sprite kneeling on the ground by the bed. "Nothing here."  
  
"Vhere else vould the machine be?" Nightcrawler asked Wolverine.  
  
"Gumbo said Magneto had a sort of office, but he didn't say that the machine might be in there."  
  
"We're going to have to search the whole place, aren't we?" Sprite asked.  
  
"Looks that way Squirt."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Rogue stared at the three forms coming towards them. Her right foot was on the gangplank leading into the plane, but she didn't continue walking up it. Spyke was right behind her, and had also stopped moving.  
  
Magneto was looking directly at the Professor, but Gambit and Colossus were not. Gambit found Rogue with his eyes and locked gazes.  
  
The look in his eyes seemed to communicate an apology. Rogue wondered if that was for what was happening now, or for what was going to happen. If Magneto ordered them to attack....  
  
Rogue lifted her foot off the plank and walked over to where Storm and Xavier were. Spyke followed and stood by Storm, while Rogue went besides the Professor.   
  
Xavier glanced slightly in her direction. ***Rogue, I told you and Spyke to get in the plane***  
  
***Ah'm not leaving ya. Get over it***  
  
The Professor sighed wearily and put his gaze back on the advancing Magneto. He didn't even bother to try to make Spyke leave his aunt. Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Jean stood on the ramp, watching their enemy and his two Acolytes approach.   
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Sprite were getting frustrated. They had searched Magneto's office, and discovered no trace of the elusive machine. They had also searched three other rooms, to no avail.   
  
"We're going to need backup. We need more then three people to search this place." Wolverine muttered, rifling through yet another cabinet.  
  
Sprite wondered into an adjoining room. This one was huge, like a hanger, and contained several large metal spheres.  
  
"Hey, come look at this," she called.  
  
Nightcrawler and Wolverine hurried into the hanger. Wolverine explained "This is how he transports his lackeys. The balls are hollow, and he makes them float behind him."   
  
At the far end of the room were giant doors, and to the right of them, what looked like a dumpster. Sprite had a hideous foreboding.  
  
Without a word, Sprite ran over to the big carton, and lifted the lid.   
  
Nightcrawler teleported over to her just as she started sobbing.  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Magneto stopped about twenty feet from the small group of X-Men. "Breaking and entering, Charles? I always thought that common house burglary was beneath you."  
  
"The situation demanded it, Magnus. What possessed you to kidnap them?"   
  
"I wouldn't call it kidnaping, that seems a little to harsh. Where are those two individuals, by the way? Ransacking my home perhaps?"   
  
"They have a right to return to their universe. I assume that you did not intend to bring the Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde of that universe here. Why not give us the machine so they may return home?"  
  
"A pity you did not simply ask me first, Charles. I'm afraid that sending them home now is impossible."  
  
Gambit and Colossus turned and looked at Magneto. Colossus, his metal face expressionless, said "I though you were going to use it again."  
  
"I changed my mind. It was a risky procedure anyway, and it failed the first time."  
  
The Professor's face had drained of color. "Magneto, what have you done with the machine?"  
  
"Charles, you look distressed. You should be pleased. You now have two new members for your X-Men."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
Nightcrawler held out his arms.  
  
Sprite rushed into them and sobbed into his chest, "We're never going to get home now!"  
  
Wolverine by that time had reached them. Peering into the dumpster he saw what had once been the machine, along with other things. Numerous wires and scraps of metal lay dejectedly on top and mixed in with other pieces of trash. Other skeletons of thrown away inventions had been dumped there, so even if they gathered up all the shards of metal and wires they had no way of knowing what went with what.   
  
"It looks pretty trashed, but Forge is a wiz kid with stuff like this. It's not hopeless." Wolverine lied feebly. Sprite was still crying, and Logan knew that the machine was beyond repair.  
  
"Shh Kätzchen, Ruhe nun," Nightcrawler tried to sooth Sprite, while looking at Wolverine for a sign that he wasn't telling Sprite a lie. Wolverine shook his head, the machine could never be fixed.  
  
Nightcrawler sighed deeply, willing the depression that threatened to overpower him away. First they had to get out of Magneto's hideout and back to the Institute. Then they all could deal with their new future.  
  
Sprite's sobs slowly abated, and she stepped away from Nightcrawler. Rubbing the remaining tears out of her eyes she said, "Sorry I broke down there."  
  
"Think nothing of it. But ve best be on our vay." Nightcrawler peered into the dumpster. Wolverine opened up small pouch on his belt and pulled out a thin mesh bag.   
  
Knowing he shouldn't bother trying to pick out pieces of what he thought could have been the machine, he did anyhow, for the benefit of Sprite. "Help me fill this thing, and then we'll go."   
  
Soon they had a bag of metal and wire trash. Sprite didn't mention that there was no way they knew if they had missed anything important. She played along with the two men's fake optimism, and smiled damply. "Okay, looks like we got it all, lets go."  
  
~*~x~*~  
  
"Ya destroyed it!?" screamed Rogue, her gloved hands clenched at her sides.   
  
"Why keep a useless object?" Magneto asked, smiling slyly. "Come, my Acolytes, let us see how much our base as been damaged."  
  
Just then Wolverine, Sprite, and Nightcrawler came out of the door. "Ah, so you two are what all the fuss is about."  
  
Nightcrawler and Sprite stared at the man that had caused them so much trouble. A fury took over Sprite's mind and before she knew it she was about to spring at the smirking fiend, her hands poised for a chokehold.  
  
A tri-fingered hand clamped down on her shoulder. "That vould accomplish nothing, Liebchen" Nightcrawler said as he stared directly at Magneto, his yellow eyes narrowed into slits. "Though I sympathize, for once, vith the desire to commit a homicide."  
  
Sprite hadn't noticed the worried glances that had flickered quickly across Colossus and Gambit's faces. What were they to do if Magneto ordered them to fight?   
  
Nightcrawler had. Now was not the time for revenge. That would come later.   
  
"You are wise, Kurt Wagner. I will let this little break in go, but do not cross my path again. Next time I will not be so forgiving."  
  
With that, Magneto, Colossus and Gambit swept into the base, the door locking behind them.   
  
Before anyone had time to say anything, Pyro came sprinting up to the group and surveyed the scene.  
  
Glancing from the closed door to the X-Men he asked "I missed somethin', didn't I?"   
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Translations: Ruhe nun- "peace now"(I think). I tried to find something like "it will be alright" or "hush, now" but the German language wouldn't cooperate.  
  
I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG AND THAT IT'S ONLY SIX PAGES WHEN I PROMISED MORE THEN EIGHT PAGES!!!!! I am a horrible person....  
  
I was rereading one of my chapters (because I had forgotten what it was about, lol) and I noticed how many horrible spelling errors it had in it. It made me want to cry....You would think I would be a great speller, since I read so much...*sigh* Go figure.  
  
I can't say enough about how sorry I am about how long this took me. I had major writers block, and since the series has been canceled *sob* I've had no new inspiration. Also, school is a constant nuisance, and won't leave me alone.   
  
And then there is planning for college... "College? I should have a college in mind already? You're soooo funny Mrs. Guidance Counselor...Oh, that wasn't a joke? Oh dear." Then there's this art scholarship thing I've been nominated for...But I'm worried about it since all I draw is cartoons....  
  
Okay, okay, enough excuses for my slovenliness....Oh, that reminds me! The SAT! I need to take that! Arrrggg!  
  
I know you all hate me, but please review. And you would rather have a short chapter now, then wait for a longer one, right? Please say yes....^-^;  
  
~:b~  
  
roguehobbit 


	20. The Transdimensional Gateway

I'm alive!!! Which may come as a shock to people that have been reading this fanfiction since the beginning....  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men....as I've said in the past 19 chapters...But, the name 'Transdimensional Gateway' was not my idea. Came off an episode of 'Justice League', lol. Just the name though, how it works and looks is my invention.  
  
Shout outs: Heh. I love you all? Sorry, really don't feel like doing this....but thanks go out to everyone who reviewed, you have no idea how much your reviewing helped me finally post this chapter.  
  
An Apology: To my beta readers, sorry that I didn't send this chapter to you. But, I figured if I did, you'd be confused since I haven't updated for a...year? And I think it would be unfair of me to expect you to beta read it since it has been so long. So, thanks so much for your help in the past. : )  
  
Oh, btw, Rogue's accent might be more pronounced then it has been in previous chapters.  
  
Chapter 20: The Transdimensional Gateway  
  
"I still think we should have trounced him," muttered Logan.  
  
The X-Men were back at the Institute, and were in the room Evan had dubbed "The Council of War Room".  
  
"Hm," said Ororo.  
  
"It would have been an useless attack on our part," the Professor said, "we would have gained nothing and only antagonized our enemies."  
  
"I would have gained somethin'," muttered Logan.  
  
"Professor we can't just let them get away with this," started Scott.  
  
"Get away with what? As far as we can gather Magneto did not mean to kidnap Kitty and Kurt. That was an accident. And he built the machine himself, he did not steal it. Being his property, he had a right to destroy it if he so wished to."  
  
"He destroyed it out of spite," said a voice. Kitty was sitting on the couch, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. She hadn't said a word since they had returned to the Institute.  
  
"Oh, I have no doubt of that," responded Xavier.  
  
Forge stuck his head into the room. "So you're all back? Where'd you guys go? I was looking all over this place for you."  
  
"Why were you looking for us, Forge?" asked Jean.  
  
"I finished," said Forge proudly, as if he had just announced he had solved world hunger.  
  
Silence.  
  
"Finished what?" Kitty finally asked.  
  
"The Transdimensional Gateway," Forge said, exasperated. "Jeez, what do you think I've been working on all this time?"  
  
Mouths popped open but no sound came forth. The Professor's eyebrows shot up.  
  
Finally Rogue asked "Ya made anothah othah dimension people suckah?"  
  
"That's one way to put it. Yeah, but I made a gateway, not exactly like the machine Magneto must have used. Though I still don't know how he did it...." Forge trailed off pondering how Magneto made something he himself didn't know how to make.  
  
"Forge...." The Professor started. He had a vague recollection that Forge had said he would try and see if he could make something like it, but didn't think he could without some sort of guideline.  
  
He must have been working on it ever since then, and no one bothered to check up on him. We all were wrapped up in getting the original back from Magneto.  
  
Before the Professor could continue, Kitty leaped off the couch and jumped on Forge, hugging him quickly and then running out of the room, heading for Forge's lab.  
  
Kurt leaped over to Forge and shook his hand vigorously saying "Danken Sie Gott! Sie sind eine Antwort zu unseren Gebeten!"  
  
Then turning to the others he said "Come, let us see Herr Forge's wunderbar invention!" With that, he teleported.  
  
Coughing slightly from inhaling the purple smoke from Kurt's' 'port, Forge asked "Is it just me, or are they very excited?"  
  
"Come Forge," said Ororo, taking the clueless boy's arm and leading him to the lab, "Let us see your invention."  
  
The others followed them.  
  
x  
  
Kurt and Kitty stood before a giant circular archway of metal and wires.  
  
Forge's working tools lay nearby, and included a ladder, rolls of wire, screw drivers, and duck tape among other things that they couldn't guess the use for.  
  
"Do you think it will work?" Kitty asked softly.  
  
"I hope so."  
  
Kitty laughed. "I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think it's to late."  
  
"Do you have faith in Herr Forge's abilities?"  
  
"Yeah, I worked with him that one day. But he didn't tell me he would keep working on it. We talked about his other inventions, and we speculated on how Magneto could have invented the machine. I told him about how we got here, about the door."  
  
"That's what inspired me to make this," said Forge, who had just walked into the room, with all the X-Men following. "I figured I'd have to make a door for you to go through, since know one was going to suck you back."  
  
"Huh?" said Kitty.  
  
"You mean even if we had the original machine we couldn't get back?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Well, it could send you back, but we'd have to suck someone out of your dimension to open the portal."  
  
"Forge, why didn't you tell us this before?" asked the Professor very calmly. Logan looked like he was going to kill someone.  
  
Forge looked blank. "I thought you guys knew that. How else could you open the portal? That's the way that machine worked. I doubt I could have changed it's rudimentary function."  
  
"I should have thought of that," muttered Kitty.  
  
"So you would of had to take someone from your dimension, so you could get back. And that person would have been stuck here?" asked Jean.  
  
"Well, yeah. And that might've not worked either, because, Kurt and Kitty are here, not there."  
  
Evan said "Huh? What does that mean?"  
  
"He means that since Kurt and Kitty are here, in our universe, they could not pull any doubles from their own universe, since there are none there. Magneto's machine only works if the doubles are in the right spot, and they can only pull their counterparts through the portal," explained the Professor. "Am I correct?"  
  
"Exactly dude," Forge gave the Professor a thumbs up.  
  
"Then why," Logan said, rather loudly, "didn't you tell us that we couldn't use the machine?!?"  
  
"It would have helped. I could have learned a lot about transdimensional travel. Plus, it would of been a lot of fun to take apart." When Logan took a step towards Forge he quickly added "Hey, man, like I said, I thought you all knew that it couldn't send them back."  
  
"Okay, lets forget about that now. Vill your transdimensional thingamabob work?" asked Kurt.  
  
"Yeah, totally. It's just pointing it in the right direction, that's the hard part."  
  
Jean sighed. "Explain please."  
  
Forge gestured to himself. "I'm living proof there are other dimensions besides our own and there's. We can't have them walk through into just any dimension. We have to find their's."  
  
"But there could be thousands," said Kitty.  
  
"Tens of thousands," said Forge, not looking particularly worried.  
  
"I think he has a plan as to how to find our dimension," said Kurt. He turned to Forge. "Vould you care to enlighten us?"  
  
Forge smiled. "You know how I borrowed your image inducer?"  
  
"Ja."  
  
"Well, it had your universe's signature on it." Feeling that an explanation would be wanted, Forge continued. "Everything from another dimension carries that place's signature. Under certain radiation you can even see the aura. It's even brighter on a nonorganic subject."  
  
Kitty suddenly got Forge's point. "So you can pinpoint our dimension by the 'signature' on Kurt's holowatch?"  
  
"Yep. But we have to surf through all the universes out there until we find the right one."  
  
"All of them?" asked Scott.  
  
"Yeah, but it shouldn't take more then a couple days. Or a week. Or two. Or a month. Definitely not more then a month."  
  
"I thought you said there were tens of thousands," said Evan.  
  
"There are. Probably more, actually. But that's the beauty of my invention," Forge said, turning to look at the gateway.  
  
"What is?" asked Rogue.  
  
"This," said Forge walking over to a piece of metal about the size of a shoe box that had been sitting on the floor by a pile of scrap. "This is the control for the gateway. Kinda like a VCR control in a way."  
  
Forge pushed a button and the gateway suddenly made a sound like a television turning on. The space in the middle of the archway crackled, like a small lightning storm, and slowly spread untill it covered all of the area in the archway.  
  
All the X-Men came forward, as a picture formed, just as the electric sparks had done, until it filled the space in the archway. The scene was of a meadow. A deer walked past. The sky was a purplish blue color. The smell of grass came through the gateway, carried by a gentle wind.  
  
For a full minute it stayed that way. Than it flashed and was replaced by another scene. It looked like the backyard of the Institute, except there were slight differences.  
  
A girl could be seen, reading on a lawn chair. She had long brown hair, except for one white streak that came from her forehead. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt and gloves.  
  
"Rogue! That's you!" said an excited Kitty.  
  
Rogue had realized this and turned to Kitty and Kurt. "Is this your dimension?"  
  
"No, it is not," said Kurt. Kitty added "And that's not what you look like in our universe."  
  
Rogue unconsciously touched her short hair and leaned closer to the scene.  
  
The other Rogue had looked up, as if she had heard them. A brown curly headed boy walked up to her.  
  
"Oh, hey Bobby. Did you call me just now?"  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"I thought I heard something..."  
  
The scene changed. Once again it looked like the backyard of the Institute. No one was in sight.  
  
"As you can see, there are many dimensions, and maybe in each one, a counterpart of one of us. In the first scene, there didn't appear to be an Institute. Or maybe it wasn't built in that location in that dimension."  
  
"Okay Forge, now how are you going to find their universe?" asked Kitty.  
  
"I've imprinted the aura of Kurt's holowatch into the control. When I turn it on, the gateway will search through all the dimensions and find the one that matches the aura. It will be like we're fast forwarding through all the dimensions, but it will stop at theirs.  
  
But that dimension will only stay open for a minute. So once it appears, Kurt and Kitty will have to jump in fast."  
  
"What if we miss it? Won't the gateway find it again?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Yeah, but who knows how many millions of dimensions it will have to cycle through. It may take another month, and did I mention the major electric bill this is going to cost Professor Xavier?"  
  
The Professor waved his hand, as if to dismiss the problem. "That doesn't matter. What will happen once it has used up enough power to blow the generators?"  
  
"Well..." for once, Forge looked uncomfortable. "This is mostly a one chance thing. When the generators go, I'm 93 certain that it's possible the gateway will also shut down. And the damage would be extensive, what with being shut down that way."  
  
Kurt had been keeping an eye on the gateway, to see if his dimension was shown. So far it hadn't, but Kurt was a little worried he might not recognize it when it was shown.  
  
"Forge, vhat if Kitty and I don't recognize our dimension vhen it is shown? Or vhat if ve think it is, and jump through, only to find that it is not?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that. I set an alarm, so when the gateway does find it, there's going to be blinking lights and noise. It won't pass us without our knowing."  
  
Forge started to flick a switch but paused. "Once I switch it on, the dimension portals are going to accelerate, so we won't even see them. But when it finds your's it will stop and be available for one minute. Ready to begin the search?"  
  
Kurt and Kitty looked at each other. Kitty nodded. Kurt answered. "Ja, ve're ready."  
  
Translation: "Danken Sie Gott! Sie sind eine Antwort zu unseren Gebeten!" "Thank God, you're the answer to our prayers!" Or there abouts, lol.  
  
And, yes, one of the dimension scenes was of Rogue and Bobby from the movie. Couldn't resist.  
  
I know I said this fic would only have 20 chapters....well, I lied...One more to go.  
Don't know when I will ever finish the next chapter (I have half of it finished) but reviewing would help the outcome.  
  
:b  
roguehobbit 


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